1- , talaei@kaums.ac.ir
Abstract: (5203 Views)
Background: Numerous evidences indicate that various environmental stresses during
pregnancy affect physiological behavior of the offspring. This experimental
study was designed to investigate the effect of noise stress during prenatal
period of rats on spatial learning and memory and plasma corticostrone level in
postnatal life.
Methods: Three groups of pregnant rats were given daily noise stress with durations of
two and/ or four hours in last week of pregnancy period. The fourth group was
left unstressed. The male offspring from the unstressed and different stressed
groups were assigned as controls and stressed groups. The animals were
introduced to a spatial task in Morris water maze 4
trials/day for five consecutive days. The probe test was performed on the 5th day of the experiment. The delay in findings and the distance passed to locate
the target platform were assessed as the spatial learning.
Results: Our results showed that prenatal exposure to noise stress for two and/ or four
hours a day, leads to impaired acquisition of spatial learning in the postnatal
animals. The plasma level of corticostrone in the two stressed groups of rats
markedly matched with their behavioral function. Prenatal exposure to 1-
hour noise stress revealed no effects on the offsprings' behavior and plasma
corticostrone level.
Conclusion: Based on our study results, it seems that applied range of stress which is
executed through the noise stress could increase the plasma corticostrone level
and could decrease spatial learning and memory of adult male offspring.