Oct. 7, 2003 -- Altering the natural mother and child bonding p
Oct. 7, 2003 -- Altering the natural mother and child bonding process soon after birth may have a lasting impact on the child's brain.
A new study shows that baby rats that were briefly separated from their mother in the days following birth behaved differently than others in response to stress as adults.
Researchers say the findings suggest that the immature brain is extremely sensitive to changes in its environment and separation of mother and child may have enduring effects on brain function and development.
Separation May Affect Brain Function
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tested the effects of separating rat pups from their mother for 30 minutes on the day after birth and 6 hours on the following day.
Researchers found these two episodes of brief separation and handling were enough to produce permanent changes in brain function.
In this case, the study showed that adult rats that had been separated as pups had an increased response to a stressful situation (a swimming test and water maze) compared with normally raised rats. The rats that experienced the separation had an immature brain system that helps handle stressful situations.
Researcher Tu-Chin Hsu, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues say the findings show that changes at the molecular and cellular level may occur after neonatal separation and handling that extend well into adulthood and merit further study in other animals, such as humans.
