The interaction of post-weaning housing conditions and prenatal drug effects on behaviour

Offspring of rats given oral doses of imipramine (5 mg/kg) from 14–21 days prior to mating till parturition or vitamin-A (100000 i.u./kg) between days 8 and 10 of gestation were reared, after weaning, in deprived or enriched environments. When tested in both a Henderson-type maze and a swimming maze no behavioural effects due to prenatal drug exposure were observed when the Ss were reared in a deprived environment. When the Ss were reared in an enriched environment the maze performance of those animals which had been exposed to imipramine or vitamin-A was significantly inferior to that of the control animals. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to environmental interaction with prenatal drug effects on behaviour.