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The Effects Of Prenatal Stress On Motivation In The Rat Pup, Howard Cromwell

Howard Casey Cromwell

Exposure to prenatal stress (PNS) has been shown to induce a set of psychological and behavioral changes in developing offspring. We used the rodent model to investigate whether PNS produces changes in the ability of the pup to express social motivation.We used a set of behavioral tasks including monitoring ultrasonic vocalizations after isolation, a conditioned place preference, and a novel and familiar odor approach test. Pregnant Long–Evans rats were exposed to an unpredictable, variable stressor twice daily during the third week of gestation. Isolation vocalizations were assessed on postnatal day (PND) 10. Pup affinity for the dam was evaluated on …