Effects of prenatal exposure to benzodiazepine-related drugs on early development and adult social behaviour in Swiss mice--I. Agonists.

1. The present experiment examined, using a battery of tests, the effects of in utero exposure to the benzodiazepine agonists chlordiazepoxide and midazolam upon the early development and adult behaviour of offspring of Swiss mice. 2. Early development was generally retarded as a result of treatment. 3. Effects on adult social behaviour examined using the resident-intruder paradigm by determining the time spent in broad behavioural categories, showed marginal effects due to chlordiazepoxide and more striking actions due to midazolam treatments. Generally the treatments produced changes suggestive of an increase and a decrease in anxiety in males and females respectively.