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Published on: August 20, 2016
Difference in infantile mother preference is associated with adult anxiety/object recognition in C57BL/6 mice
Kie Shimizu1, Rieko Tanaka-Yachi2, Kazuaki Nakamura1
1Division of Life Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-Okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama 338-8570, Japan; Department of Pharmacology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan.
We previously reported that mice pups showed individual differences in mother preferences at 16 days old; some pups show high preference to their mother, and other pups show low preference to it. In this study, we examined whether these individual differences were associated with anxiety-like behavior and cognition functions in adulthood. We found that pups showing low mother preference exhibit low anxiety-like behavior and impaired object cognition in adulthood. These results suggest that some behavioral characteristics in adulthood may be associated with the profile of mother preference prior to weaning.
We previously reported that mice pups showed individual differences in mother preferences at 16 days old; some pups show high preference to their mother, and other pups show low preference to it. In this study, we examined whether these individual differences were associated with anxiety-like behavior and cognition functions in adulthood. We found that pups showing low mother preference exhibit low anxiety-like behavior and impaired object cognition in adulthood. These results suggest that some behavioral characteristics in adulthood may be associated with the profile of mother preference prior to weaning.
