Environmental enrichment models a naturalistic form of maternal separation and shapes the anxiety response patterns of offspring

Highlights • We evaluated maternal care and juvenile offspring behavior following pre- and postnatal environmental enrichment (EE). • EE increased offspring GLUR1 and GABA concentrations in prefrontal cortex of both sexes; increased glutamate level was only observed in males. • Male and female EE offspring demonstrated anxiety-like behavior on the elevated plus maze and light dark test, but not when engaged in social interaction. • Overall, early-life EE promotes flexible response patterns between novel vs. familiar anxiety-provoking contexts.