Early positive tactile stimulation reverses the increase of anxiety and decrease of sociality induced by early chronic mechanical pain in mandarin voles.

Animals may experience early negative (mechanical pain: being retrieved using an incisor by parents or attacked) or positive stimulation (being licked and groomed) that may affect emotional and social behaviors in adulthood. Whether positive tactile stimulation can reverse adverse consequences on emotional and social behaviors in adulthood resulting from chronic mechanical pain and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study used a tail-pinching model during development to simulate mechanical pain experienced by pups in high-social mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus).