Does Early-Life Pain in Mice Affect Adulthood Pain Sensitivity, Stress Behavior, and Learning Behavior?

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2006
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Haverford College. Department of Psychology
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Thesis
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
In this study, the effects of an early-life painful or stressful experience, specifically a surgery or sham surgery, on adulthood pain, stress, and learning behavior were assessed. The surgery was conducted on two samples of male and female CD-1 mice on the day of birth with or without anxiolytic treatment. These groups were then compared, at two different developmental stages, to unhandled CD-1 subjects. Adulthood pain behavior was assessed using the Hot Plate (HP) and Tail Withdrawal (TW) tests, and baseline and stressor-challenged anxiety were tested using the Elevated Plus-Maze (EPM). We also employed the Morris Water-Maze (MWM) to measure learning behavior. Our results indicate that early-life stress (surgery and sham surgery) appears to increase anxiety behavior and neural activation of stress-related areas following a stressor in adulthood. Additionally, age appears to be a factor in overall adulthood pain and stress behavior, and anxiolytic treatment attenuates the effects of an early-life stressor on pain, stress, and learning behavior, although some of these findings only hold for one sex.
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