Effects of an early handling-like procedure and individual housing on anxiety-like behavior in adult C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21533042.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0019058 and PMC identifier 3080884.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Manipulations of rearing conditions have been used to examine the effects of early experience on adult behavior with varying results. Evidence suggests that postnatal days (PND) 15-21 are a time of particular susceptibility to environmental influences on anxiety-like behavior in mice. To examine this, we subjected C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice to an early handling-like procedure. Pups were separated from dams from PND 12-20 for 30 minutes daily or received standard care. On PND 21, pups were weaned and either individually- or group-housed. On PND 60, anxiety-like behavior was examined on the elevated zero-maze. Although individually-housed animals took longer to enter an open quadrant of the maze, they spent more time in the open than group-housed animals. Additionally, we observed a trend of reduced anxiety-like behavior in C57BL/6J, but not DBA/2J mice that underwent the handling-like procedure.
Medical subject headings
- Anxiety
- Behavior, Animal