• Antonios Stamatakis, Anastasia Diamantopoulou, Theofanis Panagiotaropoulos, Androniki Raftogianni, and Fotini Stylianopoulou.
• Biology-Biochemistry Lab, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 123 Papadiamantopoulou Str., Athens, 11527, Greece.
• Dev Psychobiol. 2014 Dec 1;56(8):1651-60.

AbstractWe developed a novel animal model of early life experiences in which rat pups are trained during postnatal days (PND) 10-13 in a T-maze with maternal contact as a reward (RER group) or its denial (DER group) as a mildly aversive event. Both groups of animals learn the T-maze, albeit the RER do so more efficiently. Training results in activation of the basal ganglia in the RER and of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in the DER. Moreover, on PND10 DER training leads to increased corticosterone levels and activation of the amygdala. In adulthood, male DER animals show better mnemonic abilities in the Morris water maze while the RER exhibit enhanced fear memory. Furthermore, DER animals have a hypofunctioning serotonergic system and express depressive-like behavior and increased aggression. However, they have increased hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors, indicative of efficient hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function, and an adaptive pattern of stress-induced corticosterone response. The DER experience with its relatively negative emotional valence results in a complex behavioral phenotype, which cannot be considered simply as adaptive or maladaptive.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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