Alterations in behavioral and striatal dopamine asymmetries induced by prenatal stress

doi:10.1016/0091-3057(89)90174-3

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior

Volume 32, Issue 2, February 1989, Pages 425-430

https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-3057(89)90174-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

We investigated the effects of maternal noise and light stress, randomly applied throughout pregnancy, on the development of behavioral and neurochemical aysmmetries in the rat offspring. This form of material stress resulted in a rightward positioning of the tail of both sexes soon after birth as opposed to the leftward bias in controls. At adulthood, prenatally stressed offspring showed a change in directional bias compared to controls with a preponderance of left turns after amphetamine. In the males, this was expressed as a reduction in directional preference, while in females a reversal occured of their dominant turning direction from right (controls) to left. We also observed a reduction in dopamine turnover rates in the left corpora striata of stressed offspring of both sexes. Again, in the females, this changes was particularly marked and resulted in a reversal towards the right hemisphere. The findings from this study are consistent with the possibility that the alterations in cerebral asymmetries induced by prenatal. stress may underly the decrease in the ability of the offspring to cope with anxiety provoking situations.

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^☆: This study comprises part of a Ph.D. thesis to be submitted by E.F. to the Hebrew University, Jerusalem and was supported in part by a grant from the Joint Research Fund of the Hebrew University and Hadassah.

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Alterations in behavioral and striatal dopamine asymmetries induced by prenatal stress☆

Abstract

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Physiol. Behav.

Life Sci.

Int. J. Dev. Neurosci.

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Neuropharmacology

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Physiol. Behav.

J. Biol. Chem.

J. Chromatogr.

Brain Res.

Brain Res. Bull.

Dev. Brain Res.

Brain Res.

Exp. Neurol.

Brain Res.

Statistical procedure in developmental studies on species with multiple offspring

Dev. Psychobiol.

Short-, medium- and long-term effects of prenatal oxazepam on neurobehavioural development of mice

Psychopharmacology (Berlin)

Prenatal psychological stress and offspring behavior in rats and mice

Dev. Psychobiol.