PRENATAL COCAINE ALTERS SOCIAL COMPETITION OF INFANT, ADOLESCENT, ANDADULT RATS

This series of experiments examined whether gestational cocaine exposu re alters later social behavior exhibited during competition for biolo gically relevant stimuli. Rat offspring were derived from dams that re ceived subcutaneous injections of 40 mg/kg/3cc cocaine HCl daily on ge stational Days 8-20, pair-fed dams injected with saline, or nontreated control darns. Offspring competed with peers for access to a nipple i n infancy, and to water in adolescence or adulthood. Prenatal cocaine exposure resulted in a decreased ability of cocaine-exposed infant rat s to compete successfully for a nipple. Although adolescent and adult cocaine-exposed rats were no less successful than controls when compet ing for water, they exhibited a notable increase in aggression toward competitors during testing. Data provide evidence of alterations in so cial behavior and social competition as a result of prenatal cocaine e xposure.