Sex differences in the long-term effect of preweanling isolation stress on memory retention

Social experiences during development can powerfully modulate later neuroendocrine and behavioral system. In the present study, male and female rat pups experienced daily bouts of social isolation for 6 h per day or control conditions during the third postnatal week. Performance on a 12-arm radial maze with 8 arms consistently baited with food reward was examined in adulthood. During the social isolation, both male and female pups exhibited a significant increase in plasma corticosterone levels. When tested on the radial arm maze as adults, the performance of female rats that had experienced social isolation during development was not affected; however, male rats in the isolation condition initially exhibited impairments in working memory but not reference memory. Despite achieving comparable asymptotic levels of performance on the maze, male rats that experienced social isolation during the third week demonstrated disruption in working memory retention when radial arm maze trials were interrupted after the fourth arm choice. Thus, while male rats that experience social isolation during the third week of life eventually perform comparably to controls on the standard radial arm maze task, their ability to retain information over a delay remains impaired. These findings highlight an important sex difference in the long-term effects of stress during this period of late preweanling development.