An overview of maternal separation effects on behavioural outcomes in mice: Evidence from a four-stage methodological systematic review.

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Post-Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), 6681 Ipiranga Avenue, Building 11, Room 928 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Post-Graduate Program in Pediatrics and Children Health⿿s, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address:

Published: September 2016

AI Article Synopsis

  • The effects of early life stress (ELS), especially through the maternal separation paradigm, have been inconsistently reported in preclinical research, leading to questions about its reliability.
  • A review of 94 studies on mice highlights significant methodological issues, including variations in separation protocols and poor reporting standards, which contribute to inconsistent findings on behavioral impacts.
  • Overall, there's a note that these methodological inconsistencies could skew the understanding of maternal separation’s effects on stress and development, potentially leading to unreliable conclusions in the field.

Article Abstract

Early life stress (ELS) developmental effects have been widely studied by preclinical researchers. Despite the growing body of evidence from ELS models, such as the maternal separation paradigm, the reported results have marked inconsistencies. The maternal separation model has several methodological pitfalls that could influence the reliability of its results. Here, we critically review 94 mice studies that addressed the effects of maternal separation on behavioural outcomes. We also discuss methodological issues related to the heterogeneity of separation protocols and the quality of reporting methods. Our findings indicate a lack of consistency in maternal separation effects: major studies of behavioural and biological phenotypes failed to find significant deleterious effects. Furthermore, we identified several specific variations in separation methodological procedures. These methodological variations could contribute to the inconsistency of maternal separation effects by producing different degrees of stress exposure in maternal separation-reared pups. These methodological problems, together with insufficient reporting, might lead to inaccurate and unreliable effect estimates in maternal separation studies.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.06.021DOI Listing

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