Evidence has shown that environmental experiences during perinatal period play important roles in determining the behavior and metabolic physiology in adult mammals, especially the ambient temperature. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the cold experience during lactation can have long-term effects on the metabolic physiology, behavioral performance and adult neurogenesis. The mother Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) together with their pups, on the day of parturition, were transferred to a warm room (23°C±1°C) or a cold room (4°C±1°C) until weaning (21 days), and then all animals were back to the warm room till 2 months old. Body mass, food intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR), cognitive ability, and neurogenesis in adulthood were measured. Our results showed that food intake, cell proliferation and cell survival of the brain decreased in the adult voles with cold experience during lactation compared to those with warm experience. When they were exposed to cold in adulthood, the voles with cold experience during lactation showed lower food intake, and lower frequency and duration of stay in the novel arm of Y-maze, but higher cell proliferation in the hippocampus and parts of hypothalamic areas, and higher cell survival in CA of hippocampus compared to those with warm experience during lactation. These data indicate that the cold experience during lactation has a long-lasting harmful effect on the energy metabolism, behavior and adult neurogenesis in Brandt's voles, but the voles with early cold experience will have better performance in metabolic capacity and neural plasticity in the brain regions related to metabolism and learning and memory when cold temperature comes again in later life.