A Fostering Study of the Effects of Prenatal Cocaine Exposure: I. Maternal Behaviors

The effect of rearing condition and prenatal exposure to cocaine on maternal behaviors was examined. Sprague-Dawley dams were given SC injections of 40 mg/kg/3cc cocaine HCl (C40) or saline (LC) daily from gestational days 8-20. Maternal behavior was assessed in treated dams rearing their biological pups (LC/LC; C40/C40), treated dams rearing untreated pups (LC/FOS; C40/FOS), and foster dams rearing treated pups (FOS/LC; FOS/C40). All dams were monitored for home cage behavior (time eating, drinking, and with pups) for 2 h during both the light and dark cycle on postnatal day 4 (P4), pup retrieval on P5-P9, and maternal aggression to a female intruder (latency to the first attack, number of attacks, boxing, pins, intruder time spent submissive and motionless) on P10. No differences were observed in nest behavior or in tests of pup retrieval among the six groups. Dams rearing their biological litter (LC/LC and C40/C40) were significantly quicker to initiate the first attack when compared to all other groups. This increased aggression was maintained throughout the test session in the C40/C40 dams who made significantly more intruder attacks than all other groups, with the intruder spending significantly more time in a submissive posture (lying on back). In contrast, LC/LC dams did not exhibit an increased number of attacks during the test, apparently responding to an increased freezing in their intruders with a reduction in aggressive behavior. Taken together these findings suggest that prior cocaine exposure results in alterations in maternal aggression that is evident when these dams rear their own pups.