Social memory deficits in adult male rats exposed to cadmium in infancy.

In two experiments infant rats were injected subcutaneously with 0, 1, or 2 mg Cd/kg on Day 5 or 6 after birth. In adulthood (150 days of age) subjects in both experiments who received the 2 mg/kg dose failed to learn the identity of a strange rat in a social recognition test. Cadmium-treated rats investigated familiar and strange rats equally, whereas control subjects investigated familiar rats much less than unfamiliar individuals. Results with rats in the 1 mg/kg group were less consistent; in Experiment 1 they failed to learn the identity of a stranger, in Experiment 2 they behaved like controls. The level of investigation of a strange rat did not differ among the experimental groups, indicating cadmium did not cause a performance deficit. The 2 mg/kg dose of cadmium had no effect on body weight in Experiment 1 and a small (6.98%), but significant, depressant effect on body weight in Experiment 2. Cadmium exposure in infancy appears to affect social memory processes long after the treatment period.