The effects of prenatal stress on rat offsprings' learning ability

The present study (N = 30 female rats, 11 male rats) was conducted to determine the effects of prenatal stress on rat offsprings' learning ability. Pregnant mothers were stressed by exposure to an SD (light) which had been paired with shock. A second group of pregnant rats was handled an equivalent amount of time, and a third group received no treatment. The offspring of the three groups were tested on several learning tasks and the handled and stressed groups were found to be inferior to the control group on four of six learning measures.