Correspondances entre la variabilite des conduites maternelles et la diversification des comportements de la progeniture chez la souris

Maternal behaviour may be used as a tool for hereditary transmission of behavioural characters in mammals. The maternal behaviour of mice from three different origins which reared foster pups of the same inbred strain was observed. Multivariate analysis revealed differences in maternal style related either to genotype effects or to grandmaternal influences. The behavioural development of the pups was studied at days 10, 14 and 17 for neuromotor coordination and spontaneous activity, at day 21, 40 and 75 for locomotor activity and food hoarding in a semi natural environment and at day 120 of age for water escape learning performance. Body weights were noted at the same ages. Results showed both maternal effects (differences between pups reared by an inbred or hybrid mother) and great-grandmaternal effects (differences between pups reared by two reciprocal F2's).

An analysis of correspondences between mother and pup behaviour permitted the description of a large panel of correlations suggesting causal relations between maternal activities and pups characteristics. These maternal activities may be considered primarily as agents of hereditary transmission.