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Cordeiro N, Pochapski JA, Luna WS, Baltazar G, Schwarting RK, Andreatini R, Da Cunha C. Forty-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations of rat pups predict adult behavior in the elevated plus-maze behavior but not the effect of cocaine on 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations. Behav Brain Res 2024; 458:114759. [PMID: 37952685 PMCID: PMC10797528 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
Ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) are emitted by both young pups and adult rats to convey positive or negative emotional states. These USV manifestations are contingent on factors including developmental stage, situational requirements, and individual dispositions. Pups emit 40-kHz USV when separated from their mother and litter, which function to elicit maternal care. Conversely, adult rats can produce 50-kHz USV in response to stimuli that elicit reward-related states, including natural rewards, stimulant drugs, and reward-predictive stimuli. The present study aims to investigate whether pup 40-kHz USV can serve as predictors of behaviors related to positive or negative states in adult rats. Both male and female Wistar pups were initially tested on the 11th postnatal day and subsequently in adulthood. There was no significant difference in the number of 40-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations between male and female pups. However, cocaine elicited more 50-kHz USV and hyperactivity in adult females compared to males. Notably, cocaine increased the proportion of step and trill USV subtypes in both adult males and females. Interestingly, this effect of cocaine was stronger in females that were in the diestrus, compared to the estrus phase. In males, a significant positive correlation was found between pup 40-kHz USV and lower anxiety scores in adult male but not female rats tested on the elevated plus-maze test. Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between pup 40-kHz and adult 50-kHz USV in both males and females, whether in undrugged (saline) or in cocaine-treated rats. It is possible that the 40-kHz USV emitted by pups predicted reduced anxiety-like behavior only for male rats because they could elicit maternal care directed specifically to male pups. These findings suggest that 40-kHz USV can serve as an indicator of the emotional link between the rat mother and male pups. Indeed, this suggests that maternal care exerts a positive influence on the emotional state during adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nícolas Cordeiro
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - José Augusto Pochapski
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil; Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - William Sanchez Luna
- Integrative Neurobiology Section, Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Gabriel Baltazar
- Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Rainer K Schwarting
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Experimental and Biological Psychology, Marburg Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (MCMBB), Philipps-University Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Roberto Andreatini
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
| | - Claudio Da Cunha
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Farmacologia do Sistema Nervoso Central, Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil; Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
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Lauby SC, Lapp HE, Salazar M, Semyrenko S, Chauhan D, Margolis AE, Champagne FA. Postnatal maternal care moderates the effects of prenatal bisphenol exposure on offspring neurodevelopmental, behavioral, and transcriptomic outcomes. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.19.558481. [PMID: 37786706 PMCID: PMC10541647 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.19.558481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Bisphenols (BPs), including BPA and "BPA-free" structural analogs, are commonly used plasticizers that are present in many plastics and are known endocrine disrupting chemicals. Prenatal exposure to BPA has been associated with negative neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes in children and rodent models. Prenatal BPA exposure has also been shown to impair postnatal maternal care provisioning, which can also affect offspring neurodevelopment and behavior. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the biological effects of prenatal exposure to bisphenols other than BPA and the interplay between prenatal BP exposure and postnatal maternal care on adult behavior. The purpose of the current study was to determine the interactive impact of prenatal BP exposure and postnatal maternal care on neurodevelopment and behavior. Our findings suggest that the effects of prenatal BP exposure on eye-opening, adult attentional set shifting and anxiety-like behavior in the open field are dependent on maternal care in the first five days of life. Interestingly, maternal care might also attenuate the effects of prenatal BP exposure on eye opening and adult attentional set shifting. Finally, transcriptomic profiles in male and female medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala suggest that the interactive effects of prenatal BP exposure and postnatal maternal care converge on estrogen receptor signaling and are involved in biological processes related to gene expression and protein translation and synthesis. Overall, these findings indicate that postnatal maternal care plays a critical role in the expression of the effects of prenatal BP exposure on neurodevelopment and adult behavior. Understanding the underlying biological mechanisms involved might allow us to identify potential avenues to mitigate the adverse effects of prenatal BP exposure and improve health and well-being in human populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha C Lauby
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
- Center for Molecular Carcinogenesis and Toxicology, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Hannah E Lapp
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Melissa Salazar
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Sofiia Semyrenko
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Danyal Chauhan
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Amy E Margolis
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
| | - Frances A Champagne
- Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
- Center for Molecular Carcinogenesis and Toxicology, University of Texas at Austin
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Halladay LR, Herron SM. Lasting impact of postnatal maternal separation on the developing BNST: Lifelong socioemotional consequences. Neuropharmacology 2023; 225:109404. [PMID: 36572178 PMCID: PMC9926961 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2022.109404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Nearly one percent of children in the US experience childhood neglect or abuse, which can incite lifelong emotional and behavioral disorders. Many studies investigating the neural underpinnings of maleffects inflicted by early life stress have largely focused on dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Newer veins of evidence suggest that exposure to early life stressors can interrupt neural development in extrahypothalamic areas as well, including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). One widely used approach in this area is rodent maternal separation (MS), which typically consists of separating pups from the dam for extended periods of time, over several days during the first weeks of postnatal life - a time when pups are highly dependent on maternal care for survival. MS has been shown to incite myriad lasting effects not limited to increased anxiety-like behavior, hyper-responsiveness to stressors, and social behavior deficits. The behavioral effects of MS are widespread and thus unlikely to be limited to hypothalamic mechanisms. Recent work has highlighted the BNST as a critical arbiter of some of the consequences of MS, especially socioemotional behavioral deficits. The BNST is a well-documented modulator of anxiety, reward, and social behavior by way of its connections with hypothalamic and extra-hypothalamic systems. Moreover, during the postnatal period when MS is typically administered, the BNST undergoes critical neural developmental events. This review highlights evidence that MS interferes with neural development to permanently alter BNST circuitry, which may account for a variety of behavioral deficits seen following early life stress. This article is part of the Special Issue on 'Fear, Anxiety and PTSD'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay R Halladay
- Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA, 95053, USA.
| | - Steven M Herron
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
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da Cruz LL, Barco VS, Paula VG, Gallego FQ, Souza MR, Corrente JE, Zambrano E, Volpato GT, Damasceno DC. Severe Diabetes Induction as a Generational Model for Growth Restriction of Rat. Reprod Sci 2023:10.1007/s43032-023-01198-9. [PMID: 36849856 DOI: 10.1007/s43032-023-01198-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
We used uncontrolled maternal diabetes as a model to provoke fetal growth restriction in the female in the first generation (F1) and to evaluate reproductive outcomes and the possible changes in metabolic systems during pregnancy, as well as the repercussions at birth in the second generation (F2). For this, nondiabetic and streptozotocin-induced severely diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats were mated to obtain female pups (F1), which were classified as adequate (AGA) or small (SGA) for gestational weight. Afterward, we composed two groups: F1 AGA from nondiabetic dams (Control) and F1 SGA from severely diabetic dams (Restricted) (n minimum = 10 animals/groups). At adulthood, these rats were submitted to the oral glucose tolerance test, mated, and at day 17 of pregnancy, blood samples were collected to determine glucose and insulin levels for assessment of insulin resistance. At the end of the pregnancy, the blood and liver samples were collected to evaluate redox status markers, and reproductive, fetal, and placental outcomes were analyzed. Maternal diabetes was responsible for increased SGA rates and a lower percentage of AGA fetuses (F1 generation). The restricted female pups from severely diabetic dams presented rapid neonatal catch-up growth, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance status before and during pregnancy. At term pregnancy of F1 generation, oxidative stress status was observed in the maternal liver and blood samples. In addition, their offspring (F2 generation) had lower fetal weight and placental efficiency, regardless of gender, which caused fetal growth restriction and confirmed the fetal programming influence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa Lopes da Cruz
- Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Laboratory of System Physiology and Reproductive Toxicology, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso State, Brazil
| | - Vinícius Soares Barco
- Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | - Verônyca Gonçalves Paula
- Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Laboratory of System Physiology and Reproductive Toxicology, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso State, Brazil
| | - Franciane Quintanilha Gallego
- Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | - Maysa Rocha Souza
- Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Laboratory of System Physiology and Reproductive Toxicology, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso State, Brazil
| | - José Eduardo Corrente
- Research Support Office, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | - Elena Zambrano
- Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Department of Reproductive Biology, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gustavo Tadeu Volpato
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Laboratory of System Physiology and Reproductive Toxicology, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso State, Brazil
| | - Débora Cristina Damasceno
- Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Botucatu Medical School, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil.
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Baxter EM, Hall SA, Farish M, Donbavand J, Brims M, Jack M, Lawrence AB, Camerlink I. Piglets' behaviour and performance in relation to sow characteristics. Animal 2023; 17:100699. [PMID: 36657298 DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2022.100699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The importance of maternal care in commercial pig production is largely ignored. The sow has little possibility to interact with her piglets, and piglets are often subjected to early weaning or artificial rearing. This study aimed to investigate aspects of physiological and behavioural maternal provisioning that contribute to offspring outcomes. We hypothesised that better maternal care and nutritional provisioning would relate positively to piglet immunity, growth and behaviour. Nineteen sows and their litters were studied in free-farrowing pens. Oxytocin and tumour necrosis factor-α in colostrum/milk and salivary cortisol were sampled from sows throughout lactation. Sows were assessed for dominance rank, response to handling, maternal defensiveness, suckling initiation and termination, posture and sow-piglet contact. Piglets were weighed, measured for body mass index (BMI) and sampled for blood (Immunoglobulin G; at birth). After weaning, they experienced a human approach test (HAT) and novel object test. Correlations were explored between individual sow characteristics, individual piglet outcomes, and between sow characteristics and piglet outcomes averaged by litter. Significant correlations between sow and piglet factors were analysed at the litter level in mixed models with piglet outcomes as response variables and sow characteristics as predictor variables, while accounting for sow parity, litter size and batch. Litters grew faster when their sow had lower cortisol values (P = 0.03), while sows with lower cortisol levels had more successful suckling bouts and engaged in greater amounts of sow-piglet contact. Litters had a lower BMI at weaning when the sow had a higher milk fat percentage at d3. Litters of the most dominant sows took longer to approach the human in the HAT, while litters of sows with higher cortisol at d0 took longer to approach the novel object when assessed on correlations (r = 0.82, P < 0.001) but not when the model accounted for parity and litter size (P = 0.35). Only some of the measured nutritive and non-nutritive sow factors influenced litter performance and behaviour, with parity and litter size also playing a role. Given the continued increase in litter size, but also the interest in loose-housed lactation pens for sows, further research on sows' maternal investment and how it can be optimised is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma M Baxter
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Sarah A Hall
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Marianne Farish
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Jo Donbavand
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Mark Brims
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Mhairi Jack
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Alistair B Lawrence
- Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
| | - Irene Camerlink
- Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Ul. Postepu 36A, 05-552 Jastrzebiec, Poland.
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Sinzato YK, Paula VG, Gallego FQ, Moraes-Souza RQ, Corrente JE, Volpato GT, Damasceno DC. Maternal Diabetes and Postnatal High-Fat Diet on Pregnant Offspring. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:818621. [PMID: 35706903 PMCID: PMC9189289 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.818621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal diabetes-induced fetal programming predisposes offspring to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity in adulthood. However, lifelong health and disease trajectories depend on several factors and nutrition is one of the main ones. We intend to understand the role of maternal diabetes-induced fetal programming and its association with a high-fat diet during lifelong in the female F1 generation focusing on reproductive outcomes and the possible changes in physiological systems during pregnancy as well as the repercussions on the F2 generation at birth. For this, we composed four groups: F1 female pups from control (OC) or from diabetic dams (OD) and fed with standard (SD) or high-fat diet from weaning to full-term pregnancy. During pregnancy, glucose intolerance and insulin sensitivity were evaluated. In a full-term pregnancy, the maternal blood and liver were collected to evaluate redox status markers. The maternal blood, placental tissue, and fetal blood (pool) were collected to evaluate adiponectin and leptin levels. Maternal reproductive parameters were evaluated as well. Maternal diabetes and high-fat diet consumption, in isolation, were both responsible for increased infertility rates and fasting glucose levels in the F1 generation and fetal growth restriction in the F2 generation. The association of both conditions showed, in addition to those, increased lipoperoxidation in maternal erythrocytes, regardless of the increased endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities, glucose intolerance, decreased number of implantation sites and live fetuses, decreased litter, fetal and placental weight, increased preimplantation losses, and increased fetal leptin serum levels. Thus, our findings show that fetal programming caused by maternal diabetes or lifelong high-fat diet consumption leads to similar repercussions in pregnant rats. In addition, the association of both conditions was responsible for glucose intolerance and oxidative stress in the first generation and increased fetal leptin levels in the second generation. Thus, our findings show both the F1 and F2 generations harmed health after maternal hyperglycemic intrauterine environment and exposure to a high-fat diet from weaning until the end of pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Karen Sinzato
- Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Verônyca Gonçalves Paula
- Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Franciane Quintanilha Gallego
- Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Rafaianne Q. Moraes-Souza
- Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - José Eduardo Corrente
- Research Support Office, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Tadeu Volpato
- Laboratory of System Physiology and Reproductive Toxicology, Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Barra do Garças, Brazil
| | - Débora Cristina Damasceno
- Laboratory of Experimental Research on Gynecology and Obstetrics, Postgraduate Course on Tocogynecology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Botucatu, Brazil
- *Correspondence: Débora Cristina Damasceno,
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Toinon C, Waiblinger S, Rault J. Maternal deprivation affects goat kids’ social behavior before and after weaning. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22269. [PMID: 35452535 PMCID: PMC9311730 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Maternal deprivation has been shown to disrupt the development of neonates. Nevertheless, separating the young animals from their dams soon after birth is a common practice in dairy farming. We investigated the effects of maternal deprivation on goat kids’ (Capra hircus) social behavior and social ontogeny before and after weaning. Twenty female kids were raised together with their dams (DR kids) and other lactating goats and kids, whereas 20 female kids were separated from their dams 3 days after birth and artificially reared together (AR kids). At weaning, each treatment group was split in half and moved into two new pens where they were mixed with the other treatment group. Social behaviors were recorded before and after weaning. Before weaning, AR kids were observed performing more play‐fighting, racing, stepping on each other, and standing in contact with each other than DR kids, but AR allogroomed less and spent less time resting alone than DR kids. After weaning and mixing of the treatments, DR kids initiated more and received less agonistic interactions than AR kids, but this difference reduced across the 5 weeks of observations as AR kids appeared to progressively change their social behavior after interacting with DR kids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Toinon
- Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health Institute of Animal Welfare Science University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Susanne Waiblinger
- Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health Institute of Animal Welfare Science University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Jean‐Loup Rault
- Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health Institute of Animal Welfare Science University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Vienna Austria
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8
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Why and how does early adversity influence development? Toward an integrated model of dimensions of environmental experience. Dev Psychopathol 2022; 34:447-471. [PMID: 35285791 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579421001838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Two extant frameworks - the harshness-unpredictability model and the threat-deprivation model - attempt to explain which dimensions of adversity have distinct influences on development. These models address, respectively, why, based on a history of natural selection, development operates the way it does across a range of environmental contexts, and how the neural mechanisms that underlie plasticity and learning in response to environmental experiences influence brain development. Building on these frameworks, we advance an integrated model of dimensions of environmental experience, focusing on threat-based forms of harshness, deprivation-based forms of harshness, and environmental unpredictability. This integrated model makes clear that the why and the how of development are inextricable and, together, essential to understanding which dimensions of the environment matter. Core integrative concepts include the directedness of learning, multiple levels of developmental adaptation to the environment, and tradeoffs between adaptive and maladaptive developmental responses to adversity. The integrated model proposes that proximal and distal cues to threat-based and deprivation-based forms of harshness, as well as unpredictability in those cues, calibrate development to both immediate rearing environments and broader ecological contexts, current and future. We highlight actionable directions for research needed to investigate the integrated model and advance understanding of dimensions of environmental experience.
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Miller AL. Environmental contaminants and child development: Developmentally-informed opportunities and recommendations for integrating and informing child environmental health science. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev 2022; 2022:173-193. [PMID: 36040401 PMCID: PMC9804544 DOI: 10.1002/cad.20479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Child environmental health (CEH) science has identified numerous effects of early life exposures to common, ubiquitous environmental toxicants. CEH scientists have documented the costs not only to individual children but also to population-level health effects of such exposures. Importantly, such risks are unequally distributed in the population, with historically marginalized communities and the children living in these communities receiving the most damaging exposures. Developmental science offers a lens and set of methodologies to identify nuanced biological and behavioral processes that drive child development across physical, cognitive, and socioemotional domains. Developmental scientists are also experts in considering the multiple, hierarchically-layered contexts that shape development alongside toxicant exposure. Such contexts and the individuals acting within them make up an overarching "child serving ecosystem" spanning systems and sectors that serve children directly and indirectly. Articulating how biobehavioral mechanisms and social-ecological contexts unfold from a developmental perspective are needed in order to inform CEH translation and intervention efforts across this child-serving ecosystem. Developmentalists can also benefit from integrating CEH science findings in their work by considering the role of the physical environment, and environmental toxicants specifically, on child health and development. Building on themes that were laid out by Trentacosta and Mulligan in 2020, this commentary presents recommendations for connecting developmental and CEH science and for translating such work so that it can be used to promote child development in an equitable manner across this child-serving ecosystem. These opportunities include (1) Using Developmentally-Informed Conceptual Models; (2) Applying Creative, Sophisticated, and Rigorous Methods; (3) Integrating Developmentally-Sensitive Intervention Considerations; and (4) Establishing Interdisciplinary Collaborations and Cross-Sector Partnerships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison L. Miller
- School of Public HealthUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
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10
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Animal models of postpartum depression revisited. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 136:105590. [PMID: 34839082 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a heterogeneous mood disorder and the most frequent psychiatric complication of the postnatal period. Given its potential long-lasting repercussions on the well-being of the mother and the infants, it should be a priority in public health. In spite of efforts devoted to clinical investigation and preclinical studies, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of this disorder remain unknown in detail. Much of the progress in the area has been made from animal models, especially rodent models. The aim of this mini-review is to update the current rodent models in PPD research and their main contributions to the field. Animal models are critical tools to advance understanding of the pathophysiological basis of this disorder and to help the development of new therapeutic strategies. Here, we group PPD models into 2 main categories (Models based on hormone manipulations, Models based on stress exposure), each of which includes different paradigms that reflect risk factors or physiological conditions associated with this disease. Finally, we provide an overview of emerging models that provide new perspectives on the study of possible pathophysiological factors related to PPD, to contribute to tackling potential therapeutic targets.
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11
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Mundorf A, Bölükbas I, Freund N. Maternal separation: Does it hold the potential to model consequences of postpartum depression? Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22219. [PMID: 35050513 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The postpartum period is a sensitive time where women are especially vulnerable to develop postpartum depression (PPD), with 10%-15% of women affected. This review investigates whether the maternal separation (MS) paradigm in rodents holds the potential to help to understand mothers suffering from PPD. MS is a well-established stress model to investigate effects on infants, whereas effects on the dam are often overlooked. The database PubMed was searched for studies investigating effects of daily MS within the first weeks after parturition on dams in rats and mice and compared to findings in PPD mothers. MS was categorized as brief MS (5-45 min) with or without handling of pups and long MS (3-4 h and longer). MS alters maternal care, depressive-like behavior, anxiety, and aggression; leads to alterations in neuronal gene expression; and affects hormone and neurotransmitter levels similar to observations in PPD patients. Even though there are disparities between human and rodent mothers, with some results differing in directionality, as well as the reason for separation (self-induced in PPD, externally induced in MS), the overall effects found on neurobiological, hormonal, and behavioral levels mostly coincide. Thus, the MS paradigm can add relevant knowledge to existing PPD animal models, further advancing the study of PPD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annakarina Mundorf
- Division of Experimental and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.,Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Ibrahim Bölükbas
- Division of Experimental and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Nadja Freund
- Division of Experimental and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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12
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Lite C, Raja GL, Juliet M, Sridhar VV, Subhashree KD, Kumar P, Chakraborty P, Arockiaraj J. In utero exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, maternal factors and alterations in the epigenetic landscape underlying later-life health effects. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY 2022; 89:103779. [PMID: 34843942 DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2021.103779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Widespread persistence of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the environment has mandated the need to study their potential effects on an individual's long-term health after both acute and chronic exposure periods. In this review article a particular focus is given on in utero exposure to EDCs in rodent models which resulted in altered epigenetic programming and transgenerational effects in the offspring causing disrupted reproductive and metabolic phenotypes. The literature to date establishes the impact of transgenerational effects of EDCs potentially associated with epigenetic mediated mechanisms. Therefore, this review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of epigenetic programming and it's regulation in mammals, primarily focusing on the epigenetic plasticity and susceptibility to exogenous hormone active chemicals during the early developmental period. Further, we have also in depth discussed the epigenetic alterations associated with the exposure to selected EDCs such as Bisphenol A (BPA), di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and vinclozlin upon in utero exposure especially in rodent models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christy Lite
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Integrative Physiology, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 602105, Tamil Nadu, India.
| | - Glancis Luzeena Raja
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulatur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Melita Juliet
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, SRM Kattankulathur Dental College and Hospital, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulatur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Vasisht Varsh Sridhar
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulatur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - K Divya Subhashree
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulatur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Praveen Kumar
- Department of Medical Biotechnology and Integrative Physiology, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 602105, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Paromita Chakraborty
- Environmental Science and Technology Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India.
| | - Jesu Arockiaraj
- Department of Biotechnology, College of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulatur, Chennai 603203, Tamil Nadu, India.
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13
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Multidimensional nature of dominant behavior: Insights from behavioral neuroscience. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 132:603-620. [PMID: 34902440 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Social interactions for many species of animals are critical for survival, wellbeing, and reproduction. Optimal navigation of a social system increases chances for survival and reproduction, therefore there is strong incentive to fit into social structures. Social animals rely heavily on dominant-submissive behaviors in establishment of stable social hierarchies. There is a link between extreme manifestation of dominance/submissiveness and behavioral deviations. To understand neural substrates affiliated with a specific hierarchical rank, there is a real need for reliable animal behavioral models. Different paradigms have been consolidated over time to study the neurobiology of social rank behavior in a standardized manner using rodent models to unravel the neural pathways and substrates involved in normal and abnormal intraspecific social interactions. This review summarizes and discusses the commonly used behavioral tests and new directions for the assessment of dominance in rodents. We discuss the hierarchy inheritable nature and other critical issues regarding hierarchical rank manifestation which may help in designing social-rank-related studies that serve as promising pre-clinical tools in behavioral psychiatry.
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14
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Lemmen KD, Verhoeven KJF, Declerck SAJ. Experimental evidence of rapid heritable adaptation in the absence of initial standing genetic variation. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kimberley D. Lemmen
- Department of Aquatic Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
| | - Koen J. F. Verhoeven
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
| | - Steven A. J. Declerck
- Department of Aquatic Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen The Netherlands
- Department of Biology Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation KULeuven Leuven Belgium
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15
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Lauby SC, Fleming AS, McGowan PO. Beyond maternal care: The effects of extra-maternal influences within the maternal environment on offspring neurodevelopment and later-life behavior. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:492-501. [PMID: 33905789 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The early-life maternal environment has a profound and persistent effect on offspring neuroendocrine function, neurotransmitter systems, and behavior. Studies using rodent models suggest that early-life maternal care can influence the 'developmental programming' of offspring in part through altered epigenetic regulation of specific genes. The exploration of epigenetic regulation of these genes as a biological mechanism has been important to our understanding of how animals adapt to their environments and how these developmental trajectories may be altered. However, other non-maternal factors have been shown to act directly, or to interact with maternal care, to influence later-life phenotype. Based on accumulating evidence, including our research, we discuss other important influences on the developmental programming of offspring. We highlight early-life variations in temperature exposure and offspring genotype x environment interactions as prominent examples. We conclude with recommendations for future investigations on how early-life maternal care and extra-maternal influences lead to persistent changes in the brain and behavior of the offspring throughout development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha C Lauby
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, Scarborough, ON, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Alison S Fleming
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
| | - Patrick O McGowan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, Scarborough, ON, Canada; Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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16
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Pires GN, Tufik S, Andersen ML. Effects of sleep restriction during pregnancy on postpartum maternal behavior in female rats. Behav Processes 2020; 179:104200. [PMID: 32710991 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Preclinical studies evaluating the effects of gestational sleep restriction on maternal behavior are needed in order to provide information on the background mechanisms underlying this relationship. In this study, 32 female 90 days-old Wistar-Hannover rats were distributed in two groups: Control group (CTRL - n = 13), not subjected to any manipulation during pregnancy; and sleep restriction group (SR - n = 19) - subjected to sleep restriction during the whole pregnancy (21 days). Maternal behavioral analysis was conducted from postpartum day 1 (PPD1) to PPD7, based on observational ethograms. On PPD11 the animals were subjected to the grooming analysis algorithm, followed by the elevated plus maze. Results from an ethogram-based analysis indicated a decrease in self-grooming among sleep-deprived rats (denoting reduced anxiety-like behavior), but no significant differences were found in maternal behavior (except for a slight increase in high arched-back nursing). Controlled analysis detected an impairment in high-arched back nursing in sleep-deprived animals. The grooming microstructure analysis showed an increased frequency of incorrect transitions among sleep restricted animals, indicating increased anxiety-like behavior. No significant differences were observed in the elevated-plus maze. In conclusion, sleep-restricted pregnant rats display an equivalent or slightly increased maternal behavior during the postpartum period, when compared to control animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Natan Pires
- Departamento de Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Physiological Sciences, Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Sergio Tufik
- Departamento de Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Monica Levy Andersen
- Departamento de Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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17
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Pires GN, Benedetto L, Cortese R, Gozal D, Gulia KK, Kumar VM, Tufik S, Andersen ML. Effects of sleep modulation during pregnancy in the mother and offspring: Evidences from preclinical research. J Sleep Res 2020; 30:e13135. [PMID: 32618040 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Disturbed sleep during gestation may lead to adverse outcomes for both mother and child. Animal research plays an important role in providing insights into this research field by enabling ethical and methodological requirements that are not possible in humans. Here, we present an overview and discuss the main research findings related to the effects of prenatal sleep deprivation in animal models. Using systematic review approaches, we retrieved 42 articles dealing with some type of sleep alteration. The most frequent research topics in this context were maternal sleep deprivation, maternal behaviour, offspring behaviour, development of sleep-wake cycles in the offspring, hippocampal neurodevelopment, pregnancy viability, renal physiology, hypertension and metabolism. This overview indicates that the number of basic studies in this field is growing, and provides biological plausibility to suggest that sleep disturbances might be detrimental to both mother and offspring by promoting increased risk at the behavioural, hormonal, electrophysiological, metabolic and epigenetic levels. More studies on the effects of maternal sleep deprivation are needed, in light of their major translational perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Natan Pires
- Departamento de Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Department of Physiological Sciences, Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luciana Benedetto
- Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Rene Cortese
- Department of Child Health and Child Health Research Institute, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - David Gozal
- Department of Child Health and Child Health Research Institute, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Kamalesh K Gulia
- Division of Sleep Research, Biomedical Technology Wing - Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
| | | | - Sergio Tufik
- Departamento de Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Monica Levy Andersen
- Departamento de Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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18
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Pittet F, Tyson C, Herrington JA, Houdelier C, Lumineau S. Postnatal care generates phenotypic behavioural correlations in the Japanese quail. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2735-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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19
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Danchin É, Pocheville A, Huneman P. Early in life effects and heredity: reconciling neo-Darwinism with neo-Lamarckism under the banner of the inclusive evolutionary synthesis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180113. [PMID: 30966884 PMCID: PMC6460090 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent discoveries show that early in life effects often have long-lasting influences, sometimes even spanning several generations. Such intergenerational effects of early life events appear not easily reconcilable with strict genetic inheritance. However, an integrative evolutionary medicine of early life effects needs a sound view of inheritance in development and evolution. Here, we show how to articulate the gene-centred and non-gene-centred visions of inheritance. We first recall the coexistence of two gene concepts in scientific discussions, a statistical one (focused on patterns of parent-offspring resemblance, and implicitly including non-DNA-sequence-based resemblance), and a molecular one (based on the DNA sequence). We then show how all the different mechanisms of inheritance recently discovered can be integrated into an inclusive theory of evolution where different mechanisms would enable adaptation to changing environments at different timescales. One surprising consequence of this integrative vision of inheritance is that early in life effects start much earlier than fertilization. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Étienne Danchin
- Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), Université de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Arnaud Pocheville
- Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), Université de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS, 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
- Department of Philosophy and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Philippe Huneman
- Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, CNRS/Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France
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20
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Danchin E, Pocheville A, Rey O, Pujol B, Blanchet S. Epigenetically facilitated mutational assimilation: epigenetics as a hub within the inclusive evolutionary synthesis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018. [PMCID: PMC6378602 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
After decades of debate about the existence of non‐genetic inheritance, the focus is now slowly shifting towards dissecting its underlying mechanisms. Here, we propose a new mechanism that, by integrating non‐genetic and genetic inheritance, may help build the long‐sought inclusive vision of evolution. After briefly reviewing the wealth of evidence documenting the existence and ubiquity of non‐genetic inheritance in a table, we review the categories of mechanisms of parent–offspring resemblance that underlie inheritance. We then review several lines of argument for the existence of interactions between non‐genetic and genetic components of inheritance, leading to a discussion of the contrasting timescales of action of non‐genetic and genetic inheritance. This raises the question of how the fidelity of the inheritance system can match the rate of environmental variation. This question is central to understanding the role of different inheritance systems in evolution. We then review and interpret evidence indicating the existence of shifts from inheritance systems with low to higher transmission fidelity. Based on results from different research fields we propose a conceptual hypothesis linking genetic and non‐genetic inheritance systems. According to this hypothesis, over the course of generations, shifts among information systems allow gradual matching between the rate of environmental change and the inheritance fidelity of the corresponding response. A striking conclusion from our review is that documented shifts between types of inherited non‐genetic information converge towards epigenetics (i.e. inclusively heritable molecular variation in gene expression without change in DNA sequence). We then interpret the well‐documented mutagenicity of epigenetic marks as potentially generating a final shift from epigenetic to genetic encoding. This sequence of shifts suggests the existence of a relay in inheritance systems from relatively labile ones to gradually more persistent modes of inheritance, a relay that could constitute a new mechanistic basis for the long‐proposed, but still poorly documented, hypothesis of genetic assimilation. A profound difference between the genocentric and the inclusive vision of heredity revealed by the genetic assimilation relay proposed here lies in the fact that a given form of inheritance can affect the rate of change of other inheritance systems. To explore the consequences of such inter‐connection among inheritance systems, we briefly review published theoretical models to build a model of genetic assimilation focusing on the shift in the engraving of environmentally induced phenotypic variation into the DNA sequence. According to this hypothesis, when environmental change remains stable over a sufficient number of generations, the relay among inheritance systems has the potential to generate a form of genetic assimilation. In this hypothesis, epigenetics appears as a hub by which non‐genetically inherited environmentally induced variation in traits can become genetically encoded over generations, in a form of epigenetically facilitated mutational assimilation. Finally, we illustrate some of the major implications of our hypothetical framework, concerning mutation randomness, the central dogma of molecular biology, concepts of inheritance and the curing of inherited disorders, as well as for the emergence of the inclusive evolutionary synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Etienne Danchin
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174); Université de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS. 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1; 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
| | - Arnaud Pocheville
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174); Université de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS. 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1; 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
- Department of Philosophy and Charles Perkins Centre; University of Sydney; Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Olivier Rey
- CNRS, Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (SETE), UMR5321; 09200 Moulis France
- Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, IHPE UMR 5244, CNRS, IFREMER, Université de Montpellier; F-66860 Perpignan France
| | - Benoit Pujol
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174); Université de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS. 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1; 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
| | - Simon Blanchet
- Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174); Université de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS. 118 route de Narbonne, Bat 4R1; 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
- CNRS, Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (SETE), UMR5321; 09200 Moulis France
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21
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Pan P, Lawson DO, Dudin A, Vasquez OE, Sokolowski MB, Fleming AS, McGowan PO. Both maternal care received and genotype influence stress-related phenotype in female rats. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 60:889-902. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.21770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Pan
- Department of Biological Sciences; University of Toronto Scarborough; Toronto Ontario Canada
- Department of Psychology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Daeria O. Lawson
- Department of Psychology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Aya Dudin
- Department of Psychology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Oscar E. Vasquez
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Marla B. Sokolowski
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Alison S. Fleming
- Department of Psychology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Patrick O. McGowan
- Department of Biological Sciences; University of Toronto Scarborough; Toronto Ontario Canada
- Department of Psychology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
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22
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Conradt E, Adkins DE, Crowell SE, Raby KL, Diamond L, Ellis B. Incorporating epigenetic mechanisms to advance fetal programming theories. Dev Psychopathol 2018; 30:807-824. [PMID: 30068415 PMCID: PMC6079515 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579418000469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Decades of fetal programming research indicates that we may be able to map the origins of many physical, psychological, and medical variations and morbidities before the birth of the child. While great strides have been made in identifying associations between prenatal insults, such as undernutrition or psychosocial stress, and negative developmental outcomes, far less is known about how adaptive responses to adversity regulate the developing phenotype to match stressful conditions. As the application of epigenetic methods to human behavior has exploded in the last decade, research has begun to shed light on the role of epigenetic mechanisms in explaining how prenatal conditions shape later susceptibilities to mental and physical health problems. In this review, we describe and attempt to integrate two dominant fetal programming models: the cumulative stress model (a disease-focused approach) and the match-mismatch model (an evolutionary-developmental approach). In conjunction with biological sensitivity to context theory, we employ these two models to generate new hypotheses regarding epigenetic mechanisms through which prenatal and postnatal experiences program child stress reactivity and, in turn, promote development of adaptive versus maladaptive phenotypic outcomes. We conclude by outlining priority questions and future directions for the fetal programming field.
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23
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Campos Barbosa Júnior E, da Rocha PLB. Analysis of the accuracy and consistency of the behavioral ecology literature that investigates Tinbergen’s question “What does the behavior exist for?”. ANIM BIOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1163/15707563-17000068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Tinbergen’s question “What does the behavior exist for?” has contributed to the establishment of behavioral ecology. However, communication within this discipline could be impaired if one does not realize that the question may refer to distinct temporal scopes. Answering it requires specific methodological approaches for each scope: different interpretations of the question refer to different processes. Here we evaluate whether the behavioral ecology literature avoids these pitfalls. We analyze a sample of the articles related to Tinbergen’s question, evaluating if they: precisely delimit the temporal scope of the question; use methodology appropriate to the temporal scope of the article; accurately define the terms used to refer to the survival value of behavior; and use the terms consistently. Additionally, we evaluate whether the citation of these articles is impaired by misinterpretations regarding the temporal scope and terms associated with the question. Of the 22 analyzed articles, three present problems in defining the time of the question, but in the other 19, methods suited to the time studied were used. Four terms (fitness, effect, adaptation, and function) were used to refer to the utility of the behavior, but only one article defined all of them. We found no communication problems in the citing process regarding the time of interest of the question and the terms used to refer to the usefulness of the behavior in the 16 analyzed citation events. Low/medium- and high-impact articles were similar in terms of the problems found. We suggest future articles should define the terms used, in order to avoid miscommunication in the field.
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24
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Williams DR, Carlsson R, Bürkner PC. Between-litter variation in developmental studies of hormones and behavior: Inflated false positives and diminished power. Front Neuroendocrinol 2017; 47:154-166. [PMID: 28837830 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2017.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Revised: 08/14/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Developmental studies of hormones and behavior often include littermates-rodent siblings that share early-life experiences and genes. Due to between-litter variation (i.e., litter effects), the statistical assumption of independent observations is untenable. In two literatures-natural variation in maternal care and prenatal stress-entire litters are categorized based on maternal behavior or experimental condition. Here, we (1) review both literatures; (2) simulate false positive rates for commonly used statistical methods in each literature; and (3) characterize small sample performance of multilevel models (MLM) and generalized estimating equations (GEE). We found that the assumption of independence was routinely violated (>85%), false positives (α=0.05) exceeded nominal levels (up to 0.70), and power (1-β) rarely surpassed 0.80 (even for optimistic sample and effect sizes). Additionally, we show that MLMs and GEEs have adequate performance for common research designs. We discuss implications for the extant literature, the field of behavioral neuroendocrinology, and provide recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald R Williams
- Psychology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
| | | | - Paul-Christian Bürkner
- Institute of Psychology, University of Muenster, Fliednerstraße 21, 48151 Muenster, Germany
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25
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Palanza
- Neuroscience Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Parma (I), 43100 Parma, Italy
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26
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Chaby LE. Why are there lasting effects from exposure to stress during development? An analysis of current models of early stress. Physiol Behav 2016; 164:164-81. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.05.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2016] [Revised: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
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27
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Handy C, Yanaga S, Reiss A, Zona N, Robinson E, Saxton KB. Stress during Adolescence Alters Palatable Food Consumption in a Context-Dependent Manner. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0148261. [PMID: 26872268 PMCID: PMC4752485 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2015] [Accepted: 01/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Food consumption and preferences may be shaped by exposure to stressful environments during sensitive periods in development, and even small changes in consumption can have important effects on long term health. Adolescence is increasingly recognized as a sensitive period, in which adverse experiences can alter development, but the specific programming effects that may occur during adolescence remain incompletely understood. The current study seeks to explore the effects of stress during late adolescence on consumption of a palatable, high-fat, high-sugar food in adulthood—under basal conditions, as well following acute stress. Male Long-Evans rats were exposed to a regimen of variable stress for seven days in late adolescence (PND 45–51). During the stress regimen, stressed animals gained significantly less weight than control animals, but weight in adulthood was unaffected by adolescent stress. Palatable food consumption differed between experimental groups, and the direction of effect depended on context; stressed rats ate significantly more palatable food than controls upon first exposure, but ate less following an acute stressor. Leptin levels and exploratory behaviors did not differ between stressed and non-stressed groups, suggesting that other factors regulate preference for a palatable food. Altered food consumption following adolescent stress suggests that rats remain sensitive to stress during late adolescence, and that adult feeding behavior may be affected by previous adverse experiences. Such programming effects highlight adolescence as a period of plasticity, with the potential to shape long term food consumption patterns and preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Handy
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
| | - Stephanie Yanaga
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
| | - Avery Reiss
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
| | - Nicole Zona
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
| | - Emily Robinson
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
| | - Katherine B. Saxton
- Department of Biology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Beery AK, McEwen LM, MacIsaac JL, Francis DD, Kobor MS. Natural variation in maternal care and cross-tissue patterns of oxytocin receptor gene methylation in rats. Horm Behav 2016; 77:42-52. [PMID: 26122287 PMCID: PMC4691570 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2015] [Revised: 05/16/2015] [Accepted: 05/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "Parental Care". Since the first report of maternal care effects on DNA methylation in rats, epigenetic modifications of the genome in response to life experience have become the subject of intense focus across many disciplines. Oxytocin receptor expression varies in response to early experience, and both oxytocin signaling and methylation status of the oxytocin receptor gene (Oxtr) in blood have been related to disordered social behavior. It is unknown whether Oxtr DNA methylation varies in response to early life experience, and whether currently employed peripheral measures of Oxtr methylation reflect variation in the brain. We examined the effects of early life rearing experience via natural variation in maternal licking and grooming during the first week of life on behavior, physiology, gene expression, and epigenetic regulation of Oxtr across blood and brain tissues (mononucleocytes, hippocampus, striatum, and hypothalamus). Rats reared by "high" licking-grooming (HL) and "low" licking-grooming (LL) rat dams exhibited differences across study outcomes: LL offspring were more active in behavioral arenas, exhibited lower body mass in adulthood, and showed reduced corticosterone responsivity to a stressor. Oxtr DNA methylation was significantly lower at multiple CpGs in the blood of LL versus HL males, but no differences were found in the brain. Across groups, Oxtr transcript levels in the hypothalamus were associated with reduced corticosterone secretion in response to stress, congruent with the role of oxytocin signaling in this region. Methylation of specific CpGs at a high or low level was consistent across tissues, especially within the brain. However, individual variation in DNA methylation relative to these global patterns was not consistent across tissues. These results suggest that blood Oxtr DNA methylation may reflect early experience of maternal care, and that Oxtr methylation across tissues is highly concordant for specific CpGs, but that inferences across tissues are not supported for individual variation in Oxtr methylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annaliese K Beery
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA; Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Lisa M McEwen
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, and Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Julia L MacIsaac
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, and Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Darlene D Francis
- Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco, CA, USA; School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Michael S Kobor
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, and Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Díez-León M, Mason G. Effects of environmental enrichment and stereotypic behavior on maternal behavior and infant viability in a model carnivore, the American mink (Neovison vison). Zoo Biol 2015; 35:19-28. [DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2014] [Revised: 09/07/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- María Díez-León
- Department of Animal Biosciences; University of Guelph; Ontario Canada
| | - Georgia Mason
- Department of Animal Biosciences; University of Guelph; Ontario Canada
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Pires GN, Tufik S, Andersen ML. Effects of REM sleep restriction during pregnancy on rodent maternal behavior. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE PSIQUIATRIA 2015; 37:303-9. [DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2014-1629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2014] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Sergio Tufik
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil
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31
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Rakhlin N, Hein S, Doyle N, Hart L, Macomber D, Ruchkin V, Tan M, Grigorenko EL. Language development of internationally adopted children: Adverse early experiences outweigh the age of acquisition effect. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2015; 57:66-80. [PMID: 26385197 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2015.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2015] [Revised: 08/28/2015] [Accepted: 08/29/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED We compared English language and cognitive skills between internationally adopted children (IA; mean age at adoption=2.24, SD=1.8) and their non-adopted peers from the US reared in biological families (BF) at two time points. We also examined the relationships between outcome measures and age at initial institutionalization, length of institutionalization, and age at adoption. On measures of general language, early literacy, and non-verbal IQ, the IA group performed significantly below their age-peers reared in biological families at both time points, but the group differences disappeared on receptive vocabulary and kindergarten concept knowledge at the second time point. Furthermore, the majority of children reached normative age expectations between 1 and 2 years post-adoption on all standardized measures. Although the age at adoption, age of institutionalization, length of institutionalization, and time in the adoptive family all demonstrated significant correlations with one or more outcome measures, the negative relationship between length of institutionalization and child outcomes remained most robust after controlling for the other variables. Results point to much flexibility and resilience in children's capacity for language acquisition as well as the potential primacy of length of institutionalization in explaining individual variation in IA children's outcomes. LEARNING OUTCOMES (1) Readers will be able to understand the importance of pre-adoption environment on language and early literacy development in internationally adopted children. (2) Readers will be able to compare the strength of the association between the length of institutionalization and language outcomes with the strength of the association between the latter and the age at adoption. (3) Readers will be able to understand that internationally adopted children are able to reach age expectations on expressive and receptive language measures despite adverse early experiences and a replacement of their first language with an adoptive language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Rakhlin
- Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Sascha Hein
- University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA; Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Niamh Doyle
- SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | - Mei Tan
- Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Elena L Grigorenko
- Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Moscow State University for Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia; St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia.
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Chaby LE, Sheriff MJ, Hirrlinger AM, Braithwaite VA. Can we understand how developmental stress enhances performance under future threat with the Yerkes-Dodson law? Commun Integr Biol 2015; 8:e1029689. [PMID: 26479861 PMCID: PMC4594369 DOI: 10.1080/19420889.2015.1029689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2015] [Accepted: 03/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently we have shown that adult rats exposed to chronic stress during adolescence increase foraging performance in high-threat conditions by 43% compared to rats reared without stress. Our findings suggest that stress during adolescence can prepare rats to better function under future threat, which supports hypotheses describing an adaptive role for the long-term consequences of early stress (e.g. the thrifty phenotype and maternal mismatch hypotheses). These hypotheses often predict that early stress will impair performance in low-threat conditions later in life. However, we did not find any difference in performance under low-threat conditions between adolescent-stressed and unstressed adult animals. To understand why stress during adolescence may affect performance in high-threat but not in low-threat conditions, we discuss our findings in the framework of the Yerkes-Dodson law, a key precept of psychology that has been used for over a century to describe how stress affects performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E Chaby
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition; Pennsylvania State University ; University Park, PA, USA
| | - Michael J Sheriff
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition; Pennsylvania State University ; University Park, PA, USA
| | - Amy M Hirrlinger
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition; Pennsylvania State University ; University Park, PA, USA
| | - Victoria A Braithwaite
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition; Pennsylvania State University ; University Park, PA, USA ; Department of Ecosystem Science & Management; Pennsylvania State University ; University Park, PA, USA ; Department of Biology; Pennsylvania State University ; University Park, PA, USA
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Gidday JM. Extending injury- and disease-resistant CNS phenotypes by repetitive epigenetic conditioning. Front Neurol 2015; 6:42. [PMID: 25784897 PMCID: PMC4345883 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2015.00042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2015] [Accepted: 02/18/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Significant reductions in the extent of acute injury in the CNS can be achieved by exposure to different preconditioning stimuli, but the duration of the induced protective phenotype is typically short-lasting, and thus is deemed as limiting its clinical applicability. Extending the period over which such adaptive epigenetic changes persist – in effect, expanding conditioning’s “therapeutic window” – would significantly broaden the potential applications of such a treatment approach in patients. The frequency of the conditioning stimulus may hold the key. While transient (1–3 days) protection against CNS ischemic injury is well established preclinically following a single preconditioning stimulus, repetitively presenting preconditioning stimuli extends the duration of ischemic tolerance by many weeks. Moreover, repetitive intermittent postconditioning enhances post-ischemic recovery metrics and improves long-term survival. Intermittent conditioning is also efficacious for preventing or delaying injury in preclinical models of chronic neurodegenerative disease, and for promoting long-lasting functional improvements in a number of other pathologies as well. Although the detailed mechanisms underlying these protracted kinds of neuroplasticity remain largely unstudied, accumulating empirical evidence supports the contention that all of these adaptive phenotypes are epigenetically mediated. Going forward, additional preclinical demonstrations of the ability to induce sustained beneficial phenotypes that reduce the burden of acute and chronic neurodegeneration, and experimental interrogations of the regulatory constructs responsible for these epigenetic responses, will accelerate the identification of not only efficacious but also practical, adaptive epigenetics-based treatments for individuals with neurological disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M Gidday
- Department of Neurosurgery, Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis, MO , USA ; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis, MO , USA ; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Washington University School of Medicine , St. Louis, MO , USA
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Beery AK, Kaufer D. Stress, social behavior, and resilience: insights from rodents. Neurobiol Stress 2015; 1:116-127. [PMID: 25562050 PMCID: PMC4281833 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2014.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 235] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2014] [Accepted: 10/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The neurobiology of stress and the neurobiology of social behavior are deeply intertwined. The social environment interacts with stress on almost every front: social interactions can be potent stressors; they can buffer the response to an external stressor; and social behavior often changes in response to stressful life experience. This review explores mechanistic and behavioral links between stress, anxiety, resilience, and social behavior in rodents, with particular attention to different social contexts. We consider variation between several different rodent species and make connections to research on humans and non-human primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annaliese K. Beery
- Department of Psychology, Department of Biology, Neuroscience Program, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA
| | - Daniela Kaufer
- Department of Integrative Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Verbeke W, Bagozzi RP, van den Berg WE. The role of attachment styles in regulating the effects of dopamine on the behavior of salespersons. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:32. [PMID: 24550811 PMCID: PMC3912551 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2013] [Accepted: 01/16/2014] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Two classic strategic orientations have been found to pervade the behavior of modern salespersons: a sales orientation (SO) where salespersons use deception or guile to get customers to buy even if they do not need a product, and a customer orientation (CO) where salespersons first attempt to discover the customer's needs and adjust their product and selling approach to meet those needs. Study 1 replicates recent research and finds that the Taq A1 variant of the DRD2 gene is not related to either sales or CO, whereas the 7-repeat variant of the DRD4 gene is related to CO but not SO. Study 2 investigates gene × phenotype explanations of orientation of salespersons, drawing upon recent research in molecular genetics and biological/psychological attachment theory. The findings show that attachment style regulates the effects of DRD2 on CO, such that greater avoidant attachment styles lead to higher CO for persons with the A2/A2 variant but neither the A1/A2 nor A1/A1 variants. Likewise, attachment style regulates the effects of DRD4 on CO, such that greater avoidant attachment styles lead to higher CO for persons with the 7-repeat variant but not other variants. No effects were found on a SO, and secure and anxious attachment styles did not function as moderators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willem Verbeke
- Department of Business Economics, Erasmus School of Economics Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Wouter E van den Berg
- Department of Business Economics, Erasmus School of Economics Rotterdam, Netherlands
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36
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Early stress evokes temporally distinct consequences on the hippocampal transcriptome, anxiety and cognitive behaviour. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2014; 17:289-301. [PMID: 24025219 DOI: 10.1017/s1461145713001004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The early stress of maternal separation (ES) exerts long-lasting effects on cognition and anxiety. Recent evidence indicates enhanced hippocampus-dependent spatial learning in young adult ES animals, which shifts towards a decline in long-term memory in middle-aged life. Further, we find that ES animals exhibit enhanced anxiety in young adulthood that does not persist into middle-aged life. Here, we demonstrate unique, predominantly non-overlapping, hippocampal transcriptomes in young adult and middle-aged ES animals that accompany the temporally-specific behavioural consequences. Strikingly, the extent of gene dysregulation in middle-aged ES animals was substantially higher than in young adulthood. Functional analysis revealed distinct biological processes enriched at the two ages, highlighting the temporal shift in ES-evoked gene regulation. Our results suggest that ES history interacts with aging to exacerbate age-associated transcriptional changes and cognitive decline. qPCR profiling of histone deacetylases (Hdacs) and histone methyltransferases (HMTs) revealed an age-dependent, opposing regulation with decreased expression noted in young adult ES animals (Hdac 2, 7, 8, 9 and Suv39h1) and enhanced levels in middle-aged life (Hdac 2, 6, 8 and Suv39h1). While altered expression of histone modifying enzymes did not translate into global histone acetylation or methylation changes, we noted differential enrichment of histone acetylation and methylation modifications at the promoters of multiple genes regulated in the hippocampi of young adult and middle-aged ES animals. Our results highlight the differential molecular and behavioural consequences of ES across a life-span, and suggest a possible role for epigenetic mechanisms in contributing to the temporally-specific transcriptional changes following ES.
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37
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Daskalakis NP, Diamantopoulou A, Claessens SEF, Remmers E, Tjälve M, Oitzl MS, Champagne DL, de Kloet ER. Early experience of a novel-environment in isolation primes a fearful phenotype characterized by persistent amygdala activation. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014; 39:39-57. [PMID: 24275003 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.09.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2013] [Accepted: 09/19/2013] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Prolonged maternal separation (MS) activates the neonate's hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis causing elevated basal and stress-induced corticosterone levels that may initiate amygdala-dependent fear learning. Here we test the hypothesis that the adult fearful phenotype is programmed by the pup's stressful experience during prolonged MS rather than by prolonged maternal absence per se. For this purpose, Wistar rat pups were exposed, on postnatal-day (pnd) 3, to: (i) repeated-MS in home-environment (HOME-SEP), 8h-MS daily for three days with the pups remaining together in the home-cage; (ii) repeated-MS in a novel-environment (NOVEL-SEP), with the same separation procedure, but now the pups were individually housed in a novel-environment during the 8h dam's absence; (iii) repeated handling, which consisted of daily brief (15 min instead of 8h) MS in the home-altogether or in a novel-environment individually (HOME-HAN and NOVEL-HAN, respectively); (iv) no-separation/no-handling (NON-SEP/NON-HAN) control condition, in which pups were left undisturbed in their home-cage. Compared to HOME-SEP rats, the NOVEL-SEP rats showed one day after the last MS enhanced stress-induced amygdala c-Fos expression and ACTH-release, despite of reduced adrenal corticosterone secretion. The higher amygdala c-Fos expression, ACTH-release and reduced corticosterone output observed postnatally, persisted into adulthood of the NOVEL-SEP animals. Behaviorally, NOVEL-SEP juvenile rats displayed deficits in social play, had intact spatial memory in the peri-pubertal period and showed more contextual fear memory compared to HOME-SEP in adulthood. Finally, NOVEL-HAN, compared to HOME-HAN, displayed increased stress-induced corticosterone output, no deficits in social play and reduced contextual fear. In conclusion, programming of an adult fearful phenotype linked to amygdala priming develops if pups are repeatedly isolated from peers in a novel-environment, while away from the dam for a prolonged period of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos P Daskalakis
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Traumatic Stress Studies Division & Laboratory of Molecular Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA; Mental Health Care Center, PTSD Clinical Research Program and Laboratory of Clinical Neuroendocrinology and Neurochemistry, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, USA.
| | - Anastasia Diamantopoulou
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Biology-Biochemistry, Faculty of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Athens, Greece; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sanne E F Claessens
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Elisa Remmers
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Marika Tjälve
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Melly S Oitzl
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Danielle L Champagne
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - E Ronald de Kloet
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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38
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Starr-Phillips EJ, Beery AK. Natural variation in maternal care shapes adult social behavior in rats. Dev Psychobiol 2013; 56:1017-26. [PMID: 24271510 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2013] [Accepted: 10/27/2013] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Features of the early postnatal environment profoundly shape later physical and behavioral phenotypes. The amount of licking/grooming that rat dams direct towards their offspring has durable consequences, including behavioral and physiological dimensions of stress reactivity, cognition, and reproductive behavior. We examined how natural variation in maternal care alters social behavior in adult offspring and how this relates to anxiety behavior and oxytocin receptor density. Male and female offspring of mothers who received high levels of licking spent significantly more time in social contact with unfamiliar individuals than did offspring whose dams provided less grooming. Reduced anxiety behavior was associated with greater social interaction. No differences in oxytocin receptor binding assessed by (125) I-OVTA autoradiography were detected between groups. The present investigation characterizes a novel impact of maternal care on adult social interaction behavior, replicates anxiety behavior differences, and illustrates connections between social behavior and anxiety in adulthood across maternal treatment groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Starr-Phillips
- Department of Psychology, Program in Neuroscience, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 01063
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39
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Daskalakis NP, Bagot RC, Parker KJ, Vinkers CH, de Kloet ER. The three-hit concept of vulnerability and resilience: toward understanding adaptation to early-life adversity outcome. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013; 38:1858-73. [PMID: 23838101 PMCID: PMC3773020 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 354] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2013] [Revised: 06/06/2013] [Accepted: 06/07/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Stressful experiences during early-life can modulate the genetic programming of specific brain circuits underlying emotional and cognitive aspects of behavioral adaptation to stressful experiences later in life. Although this programming effect exerted by experience-related factors is an important determinant of mental health, its outcome depends on cognitive inputs and hence the valence an individual assigns to a given environmental context. From this perspective we will highlight, with studies in rodents, non-human primates and humans, the three-hit concept of vulnerability and resilience to stress-related mental disorders, which is based on gene-environment interactions during critical phases of perinatal and juvenile brain development. The three-hit (i.e., hit-1: genetic predisposition, hit-2: early-life environment, and hit-3: later-life environment) concept accommodates the cumulative stress hypothesis stating that in a given context vulnerability is enhanced when failure to cope with adversity accumulates. Alternatively, the concept also points to the individual's predictive adaptive capacity, which underlies the stress inoculation and match/mismatch hypotheses. The latter hypotheses propose that the experience of relatively mild early-life adversity prepares for the future and promotes resilience to similar challenges in later-life; when a mismatch occurs between early and later-life experience, coping is compromised and vulnerability is enhanced. The three-hit concept is fundamental for understanding how individuals can either be prepared for coping with life to come and remain resilient or are unable to do so and succumb to a stress-related mental disorder, under seemingly identical circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos P. Daskalakis
- Traumatic Stress Studies Division & Laboratory of Molecular Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA,PTSD Clinical Research Program & Laboratory of Clinical Neuroendocrinology and Neurochemistry, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, USA,Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden/ Amsterdam Center for Drug Research & Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands,Correspondence: Dr. Nikolaos Daskalakis, Laboratory of Molecular Neuropsychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1668, Annenberg building - Room 22-38, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA,
| | - Rosemary C. Bagot
- Neuroscience Division, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada,Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Karen J. Parker
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Christiaan H. Vinkers
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands,Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences and Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - E. R. de Kloet
- Division of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden/ Amsterdam Center for Drug Research & Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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40
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Sakhai SA, Preslik J, Francis DD. Influence of housing variables on the development of stress-sensitive behaviors in the rat. Physiol Behav 2013; 120:156-63. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2013] [Revised: 07/30/2013] [Accepted: 08/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Suri D, Veenit V, Sarkar A, Thiagarajan D, Kumar A, Nestler EJ, Galande S, Vaidya VA. Early stress evokes age-dependent biphasic changes in hippocampal neurogenesis, BDNF expression, and cognition. Biol Psychiatry 2013; 73:658-66. [PMID: 23237316 PMCID: PMC4051354 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.10.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2012] [Revised: 09/28/2012] [Accepted: 10/24/2012] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adult-onset stressors exert opposing effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition, with enhancement observed following mild stress and dysfunction following severe chronic stress. While early life stress evokes persistent changes in anxiety, it is unknown whether early stress differentially regulates hippocampal neurogenesis, trophic factor expression, and cognition across the life span. METHODS Hippocampal-dependent cognitive behavior, neurogenesis, and epigenetic regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) expression was examined at distinct time points across the life span in rats subjected to the early stress of maternal separation (ES) and control groups. We also examined the influence of chronic antidepressant treatment on the neurogenic, neurotrophic, and cognitive changes in middle-aged ES animals. RESULTS Animals subjected to early stress of maternal separation examined during postnatal life and young adulthood exhibited enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis, decreased repressive histone methylation at the Bdnf IV promoter along with enhanced BDNF levels, and improved performance on the stress-associated Morris water maze. Strikingly, opposing changes in hippocampal neurogenesis and epigenetic regulation of Bdnf IV expression, concomitant with impairments on hippocampal-dependent cognitive tasks, were observed in middle-aged ES animals. Chronic antidepressant treatment with amitriptyline attenuated the maladaptive neurogenic, epigenetic, transcriptional, and cognitive effects in middle-aged ES animals. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides novel insights into the short- and long-term consequences of ES, demonstrating both biphasic and unique, age-dependent changes at the molecular, epigenetic, neurogenic, and behavioral levels. These results indicate that early stress may transiently endow animals with a potential adaptive advantage in stressful environments but across a life span is associated with long-term deleterious effects.
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Beery AK, Lin J, Biddle JS, Francis DD, Blackburn EH, Epel ES. Chronic stress elevates telomerase activity in rats. Biol Lett 2012; 8:1063-6. [PMID: 23054915 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The enzyme telomerase lengthens telomeres-protective structures containing repetitive DNA sequences at chromosome ends. Telomere shortening is associated with diseases of ageing in mammals. Chronic stress has been related to shorter immune-cell telomeres, but telomerase activity under stress may be low, permitting telomere loss, or high, partially attenuating it. We developed an experimental model to examine the impacts of extended unpredictable stress on telomerase activity in male rats. Telomerase activity was 54 per cent higher in stressed rats than in controls, and associated with stress-related physiological and behavioural outcomes. This significant increase suggests a potential mechanism for resilience to stress-related replicative senescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annaliese K Beery
- Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar at University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 04143, USA.
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Hane AA, Philbrook LE. Beyond Licking and Grooming: Maternal Regulation of Infant Stress in the Context of Routine Care. PARENTING, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2012; 12:144-153. [PMID: 27616939 PMCID: PMC5017583 DOI: 10.1080/15295192.2012.683341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Rodent epigenetic models of early maternal care have demonstrated that natural variations in maternal behavior shape the development of stress reactivity and social behavior in offspring. Rodent models have also revealed the "hidden" regulatory functions of specific dimensions of maternal behavior. Here we present research that has extended rodent models of early care to the study of biobehavioral development in human infants. Research showing contemporaneous and predictive associations between quality of maternal caregiving behavior (MCB) and early biobehavioral development is reviewed. New evidence demonstrating the proximal effects of MCB in early infancy on infant stress reactivity is reported and highlights the value of examining early parenting at the specific behavioral level. Future research should extend this domain-specific approach to the study of infant contributions to the early care environment. Implications for intervention are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amie Ashley Hane
- Department of Psychology, Williams College, 18 Hoxsey Street, Williamstown, MA 01267
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Swain JE, Konrath S, Brown SL, Finegood ED, Akce LB, Dayton CJ, Ho SS. Parenting and Beyond: Common Neurocircuits Underlying Parental and Altruistic Caregiving. PARENTING, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2012; 12:115-123. [PMID: 22971776 PMCID: PMC3437260 DOI: 10.1080/15295192.2012.680409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Interpersonal relationships constitute the foundation on which human society is based. The infant-caregiver bond is the earliest and most influential of these relationships. Driven by evolutionary pressure for survival, parents feel compelled to provide care to their biological offspring. However, compassion for non-kin is also ubiquitous in human societies, motivating individuals to suppress their own self-interests to promote the well-being of non-kin members of the society. We argue that the process of early kinship-selective parental care provides the foundation for non-exclusive altruism via the activation of a general Caregiving System that regulates compassion in any of its forms. We propose a tripartite structure of this system that includes (1) the perception of need in another, (2) a caring motivational or feeling state, and (3) the delivery of a helping response to the individual in need. Findings from human and animal research point to specific neurobiological mechanisms including activation of the insula and the secretion of oxytocin that support the adaptive functioning of this Caregiving System.
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Affiliation(s)
- James E. Swain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Rachel Upjohn Building, 4250 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2700 USA
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Bodensteiner KJ, Ghiraldi LL, Miner SS. Differential Effects of Short- and Long-Term Early Maternal Separation on Subsequent Maternal Behavior in Rats. The Journal of General Psychology 2012; 139:78-99. [DOI: 10.1080/00221309.2012.661377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Abstract
Animal models can certainly be useful to find out more about the biological bases of anxiety disorders and develop new, more efficient pharmacological and/or behavioral treatments. However, many of the current "models of anxiety" in animals do not deal with pathology itself, but only with extreme forms of anxiety which are still in the normal, adaptive range. These models have certainly provided a lot of information on brain and behavioral mechanisms which could be involved in the etiology and physiopathology of anxiety disorders, but are usually not satisfactory when confronted directly with clinical syndromes. Further progress in this field will probably depend on the finding of endophenotypes which can be studied in both humans and animals with common methodological approaches. The emphasis should be on individual differences in vulnerability, which have to be included in animal models. Finally, progress will also depend on refining theoretical constructs from an interdisciplinary perspective, including psychiatry, psychology, behavioral sciences, genetics, and other neurosciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thierry Steimer
- Laboratoire de recherches, Unité de Psychopharmacologie Clinique – HUG, 2, ch. du Petit-Bel-Air, 1225 Genève, Switzerland.
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Mansuy IM, Mohanna S. Epigenetics and the human brain: where nurture meets nature. CEREBRUM : THE DANA FORUM ON BRAIN SCIENCE 2011; 2011:8. [PMID: 23447777 PMCID: PMC3574773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
While our genetic code determines a great deal of who and what we are, it does not act alone. It depends heavily on the epigenome, an elaborate marking of the DNA that controls the genome's functions. Because it is sensitive to the environment, the epigenome is a powerful link and relay between our genes and our surroundings. Epigenetic marks drive biological functions and features as diverse as memory, development, and disease susceptibility; thus, the nurture aspect of the nature/nurture interaction makes essential contributions to our body and behaviors. As scientists have learned more about how the epigenome works, they have begun to develop therapies that may lead to new approaches to treating common human conditions.
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Sih A. Effects of early stress on behavioral syndromes: an integrated adaptive perspective. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011; 35:1452-65. [PMID: 21510975 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2010] [Revised: 03/23/2011] [Accepted: 03/29/2011] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
This paper presents a behavioral ecologist's view on adaptive responses to early stress. I first summarize two approaches to this topic drawn from other papers in this Special Issue: the 'inoculation model' and the 'adaptive calibration model'. I then describe three relevant modeling approaches from behavioral and evolutionary ecology: models of adaptive plasticity, models of adaptive prey behavior under uncertainty about risk, and models of state-dependent adaptive behavioral syndromes. These models generate some novel predictions on factors that explain variation in how organisms might respond adaptively to early stress. In particular, the state-dependent models of adaptive behavioral syndromes emphasize the importance of feedback loops between behavior and state variables in explaining the long-term persistence of effects of early experiences. State variables can include aspects of physiology, morphology or life history, differences among individuals in information state or skill, or even in social state (e.g., social rank). The feedbacks between behavior and individual state suggest a framework for an integrative approach to understanding responses to stress. The behavioral syndrome approach also emphasizes the importance of understanding stress carryovers - e.g., situations where effects of one kind of stressor (e.g., early social stress) carry over to influence other stress responses (e.g., response to danger) later in life. Finally, I discuss how responses to early stress might relate to variation in the ability of animals to cope well with novel conditions associated with human-induced rapid environmental change, a ubiquitous problem that animals face in the modern world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Sih
- University of California at Davis, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
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Steimer T. Animal models of anxiety disorders in rats and mice: some conceptual issues. DIALOGUES IN CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE 2011; 13:495-506. [PMID: 22275854 PMCID: PMC3263396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Animal models can certainly be useful to find out more about the biological bases of anxiety disorders and develop new, more efficient pharmacological and/or behavioral treatments. However, many of the current "models of anxiety" in animals do not deal with pathology itself, but only with extreme forms of anxiety which are still in the normal, adaptive range. These models have certainly provided a lot of information on brain and behavioral mechanisms which could be involved in the etiology and physiopathology of anxiety disorders, but are usually not satisfactory when confronted directly with clinical syndromes. Further progress in this field will probably depend on the finding of endophenotypes which can be studied in both humans and animals with common methodological approaches. The emphasis should be on individual differences in vulnerability, which have to be included in animal models. Finally, progress will also depend on refining theoretical constructs from an interdisciplinary perspective, including psychiatry, psychology, behavioral sciences, genetics, and other neurosciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thierry Steimer
- Laboratoire de recherches, Unité de Psychopharmacologie Clinique – HUG, 2, ch. du Petit-Bel-Air, 1225 Genève, Switzerland.
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