Maternal separation induces anhedonia in female heterozygous serotonin transporter knockout rats

Results show that maternal separation lowered sucrose preference in female SERT+/− rats compared to control SERT+/− rats, reflecting anhedonic behaviour. In addition, compared to control SERT+/− rats, maternal separation significantly lowered NGF gene expression in SERT+/− rats in both BLA and PVN, but did not affect plasma corticosterone levels. Together, these results show that early-life stress in female SERT+/− rats leads to depression-like behaviour and related plasticity impairments in the BLA and PVN.