Mapping early-life stress-induced behavioral adaptations in adolescent rats

Introduction/ Objectives: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are deviations from standard conditions requiring significant psychological and neurobehavioral adaptations and can be modeled in rats through limited bedding and nesting (LBN) for postpartum dams. LBN disrupts maternal care, leading to behavioral adaptations in adult offspring. Additionally, adolescence is a critical period for social development; however, few studies exist examining this time point. In this study, we investigated the impact of LBN on social preference in adolescent rat males and females.