Effects of maternal environment and postnatal multiple testing on adult rat offspring

Two hundred thirty Wistar rats, obtained from undisturbed mothers and from mothers that were exposed to temporary isolation and/or laparotomy, were randomly exposed to three of the following specific behavioral test procedures: (1) conditioned avoidance response, (2) water T-maze, (3) open field, (4) activity wheel, (5) forelimb hanging, and (6) swimming. Performance of the offspring was examined during adulthood. Effects of previous testing on later testing performance and performance correlation between the two testing procedures were analyzed. The results indicate that (1) the maternal conditions manipulated in this study do not significantly affect behavior in the adult offspring (p greater than 0.05), and (2) performance of a previous task by the offspring does not significantly alter, and is not correlated with, the performance level on a second, unrelated task. Therefore, within these parameters, rats can be used for multiple testing procedures in a more practical and less costly means of behavioral investigation. These findings may be useful in the development and refinement of postnatal developmental toxicological screening procedures for agents that may be harmful to humans.