A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DYNAMICS OF MATERNAL BEHAVIOR IN WISTAR RATS AND RATS SELECTED FOR PREDISPOSITION TO CATATONIC REACTIONS (GC RATS)
Maternal behavior is an important factor for the o spring development in mammals. Particular traits of maternal behavior in the early ontogenesis may have a lasting e ect on a number of behavioral and physiological parameters of o spring in their adulthood. In this study, we examined the maternal behavior of GC rats (GC stands for “genetic catatonics”) and control Wistar rats from the 1st to the 20th day after birth. Observations were carried out in a home cage during the day using an automated video recording system without the experimenter’s presence. GC female rats were found in the nest and nurse pups more often, as compared to the female Wistar rats. Wistar female rats “rested” outside the nest more often during the day, along with less frequent manipulations with nest material and less frequent self-grooming. The change in the frequency of maternal behavior patterns as the o spring matures has similar dynamics in both rat strains. When comparing activity in the light and dark phases of the light/dark cycle, we found that GC females had a greater activity outside the nest at night. We assume that distinguished maternal behavior of catatonic rats may be due to greater anxiety in GC rats, as compared to control rats.