AGOUTI VIABLE YELLOW MATERNAL BEHAVIOR, NEONATE BEHAVIOR, AND LATER OFFSPRING BEHAVIOR
Open Access
- Author:
- Woehling, Mollie Hobson
- Area of Honors:
- Biobehavioral Health
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Sonia Angele Cavigelli, Thesis Supervisor
Sonia Angele Cavigelli, Thesis Supervisor
David John Vandenbergh, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- maternal behavior
agouti
agouti viable yellow
mice
maternal licking
nipple attachment
anxiety-related behavior
exploratory behavior - Abstract:
- Early postnatal interactions between mother and offspring can have lasting effects on offspring behavior, especially in response to novel situations. The present study quantified maternal behavior in Agouti viable yellow (Avy); a mice strain in which environmental cues have long-term influences on behavioral development. Offspring nipple attachment behavior was quantified to determine if it predicted rates of maternal behavior, and the long-term effects of maternal behavior and nipple attachment on offspring exploratory and anxiety-related behavior were examined. Careful observations of four litters of Avy dams and offspring interaction were made over the first 8 days postpartum specifically recording maternal nursing, grooming, eat/drinking, nest-building, and licking behaviors as well as offspring nipple attachment. In postweaning and adulthood, pups were behaviorally tested for exploratory tendencies and anxiety-related traits. Results revealed that Avy mothers display similar behavioral trends in regards to nursing, licking, eating/drinking, nest building, and self-grooming in comparison to other inbred strains of mice. The “pup directed” behaviors of nursing and nest building decreased over days 2-8, while maternal eating/drinking increased. A significant positive association between frequency that a pup was licked by the dam and time it was attached to the nipple was found. Frequent licking and nipple attachment were associated with measures of decreased exploratory and increased anxiety-related behaviors in adolescent and adult offspring. While Avy mice are prone to a variety of mutation-induced traits including obesity and anxious behavior, they show similar rates of maternal behavior and connection to later offspring behavior when compared with other inbred and outbred mouse strains.