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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Quantification of Social Behavior in Adult Rats
Published on: December 14, 2014
Effects of neonatal fluoxetine exposure on behavior across development in rats selectively bred for an infantile
Betty Zimmerberg1, Sierra C Germeyan
1Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Williams College, Williamstown, 01267, MA. bzimmerb@williams.edu.
Infants born to women with depressive symptoms are at higher risk for insecure attachment and behavioral problems. Thus current medical practice is to continue psychotropic medication of pregnant women with depression despite concerns about its behavioral teratology. There are few animal studies focused on long-term behavioral effects of prenatal antidepressant exposure; in addition, studies have not looked at individual differences in baseline affective state as a source of response variability. In this study, fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), was administered to male and female rat pups from postnatal days 2-7 to model exposure to antidepressants in the human third trimester. Four behavioral measures were conducted from the neonatal to adult age periods in Low and High lines selectively bred for their rate of ultrasonic vocalizations after brief maternal separation. Neonatal fluoxetine administration decreased distress calls in both lines, but to a greater extent in High line rats than Low line. Neonatal fluoxetine also impaired motor coordination in neonates. Neonatal fluoxetine administration decreased social behavior in both juvenile and adult subjects. Fluoxetine-related reductions in anxiety behavior were not observed at the two older ages. As expected, High line subjects displayed more anxiety behavior than Low line subjects at all three test ages. These results suggest that there are may be significant behavioral consequences of antidepressant use during late pregnancy on offspring maternal attachment and social behavior, with implications for increased risk of autism spectrum disorders.
Infants born to women with depressive symptoms are at higher risk for insecure attachment and behavioral problems. Thus current medical practice is to continue psychotropic medication of pregnant women with depression despite concerns about its behavioral teratology. There are few animal studies focused on long-term behavioral effects of prenatal antidepressant exposure; in addition, studies have not looked at individual differences in baseline affective state as a source of response variability. In this study, fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), was administered to male and female rat pups from postnatal days 2-7 to model exposure to antidepressants in the human third trimester. Four behavioral measures were conducted from the neonatal to adult age periods in Low and High lines selectively bred for their rate of ultrasonic vocalizations after brief maternal separation. Neonatal fluoxetine administration decreased distress calls in both lines, but to a greater extent in High line rats than Low line. Neonatal fluoxetine also impaired motor coordination in neonates. Neonatal fluoxetine administration decreased social behavior in both juvenile and adult subjects. Fluoxetine-related reductions in anxiety behavior were not observed at the two older ages. As expected, High line subjects displayed more anxiety behavior than Low line subjects at all three test ages. These results suggest that there are may be significant behavioral consequences of antidepressant use during late pregnancy on offspring maternal attachment and social behavior, with implications for increased risk of autism spectrum disorders.
