■早期社会隔离(ESI)会破坏神经发育过程,可能导致成年后持久的情绪和认知变化。公共嵌套(CN),即,在一个巢中的多个个体之间分担父母的责任,创造一个社会丰富的环境,已知影响社会和焦虑相关的行为。
■本研究检查了(i)CN状况和(ii)ESI在生命的第3周的影响(即,断奶前ESI)在电机上,认知,在两种不同的住房条件下饲养的雄性和雌性大鼠在青春期和成年期的情感领域,以及(iii)CN减轻ESI对后代影响的潜力。
■我们发现,在自发运动活动测试中,与男性相比,女性表现出更高的活动水平。在女性群体中,在标准住房(SH)条件下饲养的青少年在竞技场中心花费的时间较少,暗示焦虑水平增加,虽然CN状况增加了青春期在中心的时间,但不是成年,独立于ESI。前脉冲抑制(PPI)测试表明,在ESI青春期动物中,男女和成年雄性(但成年雌性)的PPI均降低。随着CN恢复男性的PPI,但不是青春期女性。Further,在大理石掩埋测试中,SH-ESI青少年男性表现出比所有其他组更高的大理石掩埋行为,暗示强迫症特征。CN完全逆转了这种应激诱导的作用。有趣的是,ESI和CN对男女成年动物的掩埋行为均无重大影响。
■总的来说,我们的发现(I)评估ESI对运动的影响,感觉运动门控,和强迫性的行为,(ii)揭示这些领域内男性和女性的不同脆弱性,和(iii)显示了早年社会丰富如何以性别依赖的方式成功地抵消了早年社会压力引起的某些行为改变。这项研究加强了这样一种观念,即早年的社会经历可以塑造成年后的情感和认知结果,并指出社会丰富干预对于减轻早期社会压力对神经发育的负面影响的重要性。
UNASSIGNED: Early social isolation (ESI) disrupts neurodevelopmental processes, potentially leading to long-lasting emotional and cognitive changes in adulthood. Communal nesting (CN), i.e., the sharing of parental responsibilities between multiple individuals in a nest, creates a socially enriching environment known to impact social and anxiety-related behaviors.
UNASSIGNED: This study examines the effects of (i) the CN condition and of (ii) ESI during the 3rd week of life (i.e., pre-weaning ESI) on motor, cognitive, and emotional domains during adolescence and adulthood in male and female rats reared in the two different housing conditions, as well as (iii) the potential of CN to mitigate the impact of ESI on offspring.
UNASSIGNED: We found that in a spontaneous locomotor activity test, females exhibited higher activity levels compared to males. In female groups, adolescents reared in standard housing (SH) condition spent less time in the center of the arena, suggestive of increased anxiety levels, while the CN condition increased the time spent in the center during adolescence, but not adulthood, independently from ESI. The prepulse inhibition (PPI) test showed a reduced PPI in ESI adolescent animals of both sexes and in adult males (but not in adult females), with CN restoring PPI in males, but not in adolescent females. Further, in the marble burying test SH-ESI adolescent males exhibited higher marble burying behavior than all other groups, suggestive of obsessive-compulsive traits. CN completely reversed this stress-induced effect. Interestingly, ESI and CN did not have a significant impact on burying behavior in adult animals of both sexes.
UNASSIGNED: Overall, our findings (i) assess the effects of ESI on locomotion, sensorimotor gating, and compulsive-like behaviors, (ii) reveal distinct vulnerabilities of males and females within these domains, and (iii) show how early-life social enrichment may successfully counteract some of the behavioral alterations induced by early-life social stress in a sex-dependent manner. This study strengthens the notion that social experiences during early-life can shape emotional and cognitive outcomes in adulthood, and points to the importance of social enrichment interventions for mitigating the negative effects of early social stress on neurodevelopment.