Measuring Maternal Motivation by Using Pup Urine Olfactory Cues in Rats. (2011)

Undergraduates: NISEL DESAI, none Williams, Sarah none

Faculty Advisor: Josephine Johns
Department: Public Policy

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Maternal behavior is affected adversely by drug consumption. In utero cocaine exposure impairs pups’ ability to elicit a maternal response. Olfactory cues initiate and maintain the maternal response in animal models. This experiment measures motivation and avoidance through the use of pup urine as an olfactory cue. Nulliparous Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three treatment groups (n=5-8 each): chronic cocaine (30 mg/kg/day), chronic saline and untreated. Behavioral tests were conducted during gestation day (GD) 19, and post-partum days (PPD) 1, 3 and 5. Maternal motivation was evaluated by conducting a 10-minute test in which the rat can choose which alley they would walk to. The rat can either interact with a tea strainer that contains a cotton ball soaked in UN pup-urine, or CC-treated pup urine, or no urine (for GD19 only). _x000D_
GD 19 data ensures that the rat’s choice of alley is not due to a natural tendency to prefer one side over the other. Preliminary results suggest that the maternal responsiveness to urine wanes over time. The untreated group initially interacted with the urine ball more than the chronic saline and cocaine groups on PPD 1, but on other test days spent more time in the center compartment and therefore displayed an avoidance behavior . Future studies will examine this effect. Preliminary data suggests a preference for CC-urine pup cues on PPD 1, with no such preference on PPD 3 and 5. Through an unknown mechanism, CC exposed pup urine elicits a stronger maternal response._x000D_