Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges

IntroductionSocial play behaviour facilitates the development of social, emotional and cognitive capacities, including resilience. Deprivation of social play in rats leads to alterations in anxiety, stress and social behaviour. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of social play depriv...

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Main Authors: E. J. Marijke Achterberg, Jose G. Lozeman-van ‘t Klooster, Tara C. Pimentel, Anastasija Aleksić, Judith C. M. J. Hendriks, Sanne Nijhof, C. Kors van der Ent, Heidi M. B. Lesscher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Ethology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fetho.2024.1458136/full
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author E. J. Marijke Achterberg
Jose G. Lozeman-van ‘t Klooster
Tara C. Pimentel
Anastasija Aleksić
Judith C. M. J. Hendriks
Sanne Nijhof
C. Kors van der Ent
Heidi M. B. Lesscher
author_facet E. J. Marijke Achterberg
Jose G. Lozeman-van ‘t Klooster
Tara C. Pimentel
Anastasija Aleksić
Judith C. M. J. Hendriks
Sanne Nijhof
C. Kors van der Ent
Heidi M. B. Lesscher
author_sort E. J. Marijke Achterberg
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionSocial play behaviour facilitates the development of social, emotional and cognitive capacities, including resilience. Deprivation of social play in rats leads to alterations in anxiety, stress and social behaviour. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of social play deprivation, specifically on the responsivity to social and non-social challenges. We hypothesised that play deprivation leads to impairments in stress resilience later in life, particularly in social contexts. MethodsTo test this, play-deprived rats were compared with undeprived control rats for their responsivity to (1) a novel environment, (2) facing an aggressive male rat in its territory (resident-intruder test) and (3) an encounter with two unfamiliar conspecifics in a neutral, familiar environment (stranger encounter test). ResultsCorticosterone concentrations in response to these different stressors were comparable between play-deprived and control rats. Behavioural analysis revealed that play-deprived rats responded similar to undeprived controls when confronted with an aggressive rat in its territory. In the stranger encounter test, the unfamiliar strangers directed more play behaviour towards play-deprived animals than towards undeprived control animals. DiscussionTogether our results indicate that, except for subtle differences in play behaviour in a social challenging condition, play deprivation did not result in altered corticosterone responses to the different stressors. Our data add to the existing knowledge about the impact of social play for the development of resilient and social behaviour later in life.
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spelling doaj-art-73f73a5cdcb745cf831f30d91f30cac52025-08-20T01:58:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ethology2813-50912024-12-01310.3389/fetho.2024.14581361458136Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challengesE. J. Marijke Achterberg0Jose G. Lozeman-van ‘t Klooster1Tara C. Pimentel2Anastasija Aleksić3Judith C. M. J. Hendriks4Sanne Nijhof5C. Kors van der Ent6Heidi M. B. Lesscher7Department of Population Health Sciences, Section Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Population Health Sciences, Section Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Population Health Sciences, Section Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Population Health Sciences, Section Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Population Health Sciences, Section Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Pediatrics, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Pediatric Pulmonology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment of Population Health Sciences, Section Animals in Science and Society, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsIntroductionSocial play behaviour facilitates the development of social, emotional and cognitive capacities, including resilience. Deprivation of social play in rats leads to alterations in anxiety, stress and social behaviour. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of social play deprivation, specifically on the responsivity to social and non-social challenges. We hypothesised that play deprivation leads to impairments in stress resilience later in life, particularly in social contexts. MethodsTo test this, play-deprived rats were compared with undeprived control rats for their responsivity to (1) a novel environment, (2) facing an aggressive male rat in its territory (resident-intruder test) and (3) an encounter with two unfamiliar conspecifics in a neutral, familiar environment (stranger encounter test). ResultsCorticosterone concentrations in response to these different stressors were comparable between play-deprived and control rats. Behavioural analysis revealed that play-deprived rats responded similar to undeprived controls when confronted with an aggressive rat in its territory. In the stranger encounter test, the unfamiliar strangers directed more play behaviour towards play-deprived animals than towards undeprived control animals. DiscussionTogether our results indicate that, except for subtle differences in play behaviour in a social challenging condition, play deprivation did not result in altered corticosterone responses to the different stressors. Our data add to the existing knowledge about the impact of social play for the development of resilient and social behaviour later in life.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fetho.2024.1458136/fullsocial playdeprivationstress responseresiliencesocial behaviour
spellingShingle E. J. Marijke Achterberg
Jose G. Lozeman-van ‘t Klooster
Tara C. Pimentel
Anastasija Aleksić
Judith C. M. J. Hendriks
Sanne Nijhof
C. Kors van der Ent
Heidi M. B. Lesscher
Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges
Frontiers in Ethology
social play
deprivation
stress response
resilience
social behaviour
title Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges
title_full Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges
title_fullStr Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges
title_full_unstemmed Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges
title_short Effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non-social challenges
title_sort effect of social play deprivation on stress sensitivity in response to social and non social challenges
topic social play
deprivation
stress response
resilience
social behaviour
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fetho.2024.1458136/full
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