Jackson, Corey S.Barrett, Douglas W.Shumake, JasonGonzales, ElisaGonzalez-Lima, F.Lane, Michelle A.2019-08-052019-08-052018-01Jackson, C., Barrett, D. W., Shumake, J., Gonzales, E., Gonzalez-Lima, F., Lane, M. A. (2018). Maternal omega-3 fatty acid intake during neurodevelopment does not affect pup behavior related to depression, novelty, or learning. BMC Research Notes, 11 : 812.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/8455Objective: Previously, we showed that consumption of a diet supplemented with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3FAs) for two rounds of gestation and lactation increased the ability of rat dams to cope with stress when compared to dams that ingested a diet lacking n-3FAs. The objective of this study was to determine if the diets of these dams affected the behavior of their pups later in life. To isolate the neurodevelopmental effects of n-3FAs, pups from the second gestation were weaned to a diet adequate in n-3FAs. Pup testing began at 8 weeks of age and consisted of the forced swim, open field, and hole board tests to examine depression-related behavior, reaction to novelty, and learning and memory, respectively. Results: Given the considerable difference in the n-3FA content of the maternal diet, we expected a large effect size, however with the exception of rearing duration, maternal diet did not affect behavior in any of the tests conducted. These results suggest that maternal n-3FA supplementation during neurodevelopment likely does not affect offspring behavior when a diet adequate in n-3FA is provided post-weaning. Rather, we hypothesize that brain n-3FAs at the time of testing confer altered behavior and corroborate the need for additional research.Text7 pages1 file (.pdf)enn-3 fatty acidsdepressionnovelty reactivity learningmemoryneurodevelopmentFamily and Consumer SciencesArticle© 2018 The Authors.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-018-3915-3This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.