Effects of prenatal maternal handling on the maturation of rhythmic processes.

Abstract

Offspring of Charles River rats handled throughout pregnancy and offspring of nonhandled animals were fostered to nonhandled females and reared under a 12-hr light-dark cycle. Controls displayed the characteristic 24-hr rhythm in adrenocortical activity at 25 days of age. In prenatally handled Ss the rhythm was present at 18 days. The 24-hr rhythm in overt activity characteristic of the adult rat was 1st observed at 7 days of age in unmanipulated controls whereas prenatally handled Ss displayed rhythmicity at 5 days of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)