S-042 | Differences between communal and biparental nesting and its implications on adolescent behavior and ethanol response

Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Julia Dimundo | Email: Julia.dimundo@mi.unc.edu.ar

Julia Dimundo^1°, Lucila Pasquetta^1°, Ximena Caeiro^1°,  Roberto Sebastián Miranda-Morales^1°2°

^1° Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra (INIMEC-CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Córdoba, 5016, Argentina.
^2° Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, 5000, Argentina.

Social experiences, including parental care and family structure, during early ontogeny affect offspring neurodevelopment, behavior and drug response. Our previous studies on C57 mice found significant differences between single-mother and biparental (BP) rearing. Adolescents reared by single-mothers displayed an anxiety-prone phenotype with higher rates of alcohol consumption. In the present study, traditional BP nesting, was compared with a communal nesting (CN), consisting of a nursing female plus the father and mother. Parental activity during the lactation was analyzed. Also, the behavior of the adolescent offspring, under ethanol effects, was studied using the Light/Dark Test (LDB). Results indicated that the presence of an additional caregiver during birth and lactation increases the frequency of pup-directed behaviors. In the LDB, although a significant effect of the rearing condition could not be determined, differences in the behavioral profiles of males and females and a clear effect of alcohol, were observed. Female mice, spent more time in the light side, traveled longer distances and made more side transitions. The stimulating effect of alcohol was evidenced by a higher speed achieved during the test, greater distance traveled, more transitions, and an increased number of rearing and wall-climbing events. This study showed that long-term differences as a consequence of parenting structure seem to decrease when two or more caregivers are present since birth.