Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Co-imagination fosters shared emotions of future experiences.

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)·2026

Same author

Take me back: how the temporal relationship between cues shapes emotional memory retrieval.

Psychological research·2026

Same author

Structural brain alterations and predictors of clinical improvement in functional cognitive disorder after concussion.

NeuroImage. Clinical·2026

Same author

Neural Patterns Reflect Shared Emotional History.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2025

Same author

Negative emotion reduces autobiographical memory's susceptibility to change.

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)·2025

Same author

Distinct signatures of social and emotional cues in memory and eye movements.

Emotion (Washington, D.C.)·2025

Same journal

Inflammatory Stress Response During Pregnancy as a Connecting Link in Intergenerational Risk Cascades.

Developmental psychobiology·2026

Same journal

Maternal Early Pregnancy Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) Metabolites Correlate With Newborn Resting-State Functional Connectivity.

Developmental psychobiology·2026

Same journal

Navigating Stress: Exploring the Role of Empathy in Caregiving.

Developmental psychobiology·2026

Same journal

Children With Idiopathic Toe Walking Display Different Cortical Activation Patterns When Interpreting Tactile Sensation.

Developmental psychobiology·2026

Same journal

Epigenetic Mechanisms Linking Maternal Stress During Pregnancy to Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Narrative Review.

Developmental psychobiology·2026

Same journal

Quantifying Visuomotor Maturation From Middle Childhood to Adolescence.

Developmental psychobiology·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2026

A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies

A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies

Published on: February 9, 2024

Impulsive rats are less maternal.

Vedran Lovic¹, Daniela J Palombo, Alison S Fleming

¹Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI, USA. vlovic@umich.edu

Developmental Psychobiology

|August 28, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Early life environment impacts adult behavior. Artificially reared (AR) rats show reduced maternal care and increased impulsivity, with impulsivity linked to less maternal behavior in female rats.

More Related Videos

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Published on: March 17, 2019

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 9, 2026

A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies

A Preterm Rat Model for Pain Studies

Published on: February 9, 2024

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

Published on: March 17, 2019

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Limited Bedding and Nesting as a Model for Early-Life Adversity in Mice

Published on: July 12, 2024

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Psychology
Animal Behavior

Background:

Early life experiences, including maternal care, significantly influence long-term behavior and physiology.
Artificially reared (AR) rats exhibit diminished maternal behaviors and increased impulsivity compared to mother-reared (MR) rats.
Previous research indicates that tactile stimulation can mitigate some effects of artificial rearing on maternal behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between impulsivity and maternal behavior in female rats with different rearing histories (AR vs. MR).
To determine if increased impulsivity in AR rats contributes to their reduced maternal care.

Main Methods:

Female rats were artificially reared (AR) or mother-reared (MR). A subset of AR rats received additional tactile stimulation.
Adult rats were mated, and their maternal behavior towards their pups was assessed.
Impulsive action was measured using a differential reinforcement of low-rate schedule (DRL-20s).

Main Results:

AR rats displayed significantly less maternal behavior and higher levels of action impulsivity compared to MR rats.
Partial correlations demonstrated a negative correlation between impulsivity and pup licking behavior.
Increased impulsivity was associated with reduced maternal care in female rats.

Conclusions:

Impulsivity is a significant factor contributing to the reduced maternal behavior observed in artificially reared female rats.
Early life rearing conditions have lasting effects on the interplay between impulsivity and maternal care.
These findings highlight the importance of early social and tactile experiences for the development of maternal behavior and behavioral control.