Methods of behavioral genetics - Inbreeding - Comparisons of inbred strains to show the role of the environment

4 important questions on Methods of behavioral genetics - Inbreeding - Comparisons of inbred strains to show the role of the environment

How can the environmental effects of early learning be eliminated?

  • Reciprocal cross
  • Crossfostering

What is cross fostering?

Transferring the offspring shortly after birth to a mother of a different strain, a technique for detecting influences that occur after birth, it is possible to determine whether a particular behavior is influenced by the parental environment.

How does reciprocal cross work?

Males of inbred strain A are mated with females of inbred strain B and males of inbred strain B are mated with females of inbred strain A. This results in two groups of "hybrid" offspring with the same genotype. If they are raised in the same environment, only by different parents, any observed behavioral differences between the two groups of offspring are due to parental care.

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How does crossfostering work?

The offspring of the mothers of two different strains are swapped, so mother A raises the young of mother B and mother B raises the offspring of mother A. When the offspring starts to behave more like the foster mother it can be concluded that this behavior is caused by postnatal maternal influences and not so much by genetics.

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