Diagram and Timeline of the Experimental design. H: handling. NH: non-handling. NH group was left undisturbed. H group was exposed to daily handling session for 5 min from birth till weaning. At postnatal day (PND) 67 began performing the following behavioral tasks at 10:00am - 12:00pm: open field test (OF) on PND67, elevated plus-maze test (EPM) on PND70 and forced swim test (FST) on PND73. 

Effect of neonatal handling on the open field behaviors of rats of both sexes. A: time in seconds spent in corners, B: time in seconds spent in center, C: number of crossed squares and D: number of rearing. Expressed as mean ± SEM. NH: non-handling, H: handling. ** p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. 

Effect of neonatal handling on the elevated plus-maze behaviors of rats of both sexes. A: time in seconds spent in closed arms, B: time in seconds spent in opened arms, C: number of closed arms entries, D: number of opened arms entries and E: number of rearing. Expressed as mean ± SEM. NH: non-handling, H: handling. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. 

Effect of neonatal handling on the forced swimming test behaviors of rats of both sexes. A: swimming time in seconds, B: time of immobility and C: climbing time in seconds. Expressed as mean ± SEM. NH: non-handling, H: handling. *p < 0.05, **p< 0.01.