Enduring maternal influences in a precocial rodent

Hennessy, Michael B.

doi:10.1002/dev.10095

Cited by 45 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 78 publications

(115 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This effect has even been shown transgenerationally, with prenatal stress being associated with altered maternal care in subsequent generations [54]. However, whilst guinea pig pups demonstrate strong attachments to their mothers [27], maternal care itself is very passive in nature, limited primarily to active licking of the pups over the first postnatal week [55]. In this study, there were no differences observed in neonatal birth weight and weight gain trajectories over the 21 days after birth following prenatal stress exposure, which is indicative of normal feeding and maternal care compared to controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Stress Alters Hippocampal Neuroglia and Increases Anxiety in Childhood

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Prenatal stress has been associated with detrimental outcomes of pregnancy, including altered brain development leading to behavioural pathologies. The neurosteroid allopregnanolone has been implicated in mediating some of these adverse outcomes following prenatal stress due to its potent inhibitory and anxiolytic effects on the brain. The aims of the current study were to characterise key markers for brain development as well as behavioural parameters, adrenocortical responses to handling and possible neurosteroid influences towards outcomes in guinea pig offspring in childhood. Pregnant guinea pig dams were exposed to strobe light for 2 h (9-11 a.m.) on gestational days 50, 55, 60, and 65 and were left to deliver spontaneously at term and care for their litter. Behavioural testing (open-field test, object exploration test) of the offspring was performed at postnatal day 18 (with salivary cortisol and DHEA measured), and brains were collected at post-mortem on day 21. Markers of brain development myelin basic protein (MBP) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were assessed via immunohistochemistry, and the neurosteroid allopregnanolone and its rate-limiting enzymes 5α-reductase types 1 and 2 (5αR1/2) were measured in neonatal brains by radioimmunoassay, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western blot, respectively. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein was measured as a marker of synaptic plasticity, and GABA_A receptor subunit expression was also assessed using RT-PCR. Neonates born from mothers stressed during late pregnancy showed a reduction in both MBP (p < 0.01) and GFAP (p < 0.05) expression in the CA1 region of the hippocampus at 21 days of age. Pups of prenatally stressed pregnancies also showed higher levels of anxiety and neophobic behaviours at the equivalent of childhood (p < 0.05). There were no significant changes observed in allopregnanolone levels, 5αR1/2 expression, or GABA_A receptor subunit expression in prenatally stressed neonates compared to controls. This study shows alterations in markers of myelination and reactive astrocytes in the hippocampus of offspring exposed to prenatal stress. These changes are also observed in offspring that show increased anxiety behaviours at the equivalent of childhood, which indicates ongoing structural and functional postnatal changes after prenatal stress exposure.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Stress Alters Hippocampal Neuroglia and Increases Anxiety in Childhood

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If one applies the basic criteria that have been used to define attachment in primates, guinea pigs do quite well. They readily approach and follow the mother; they show evidence of recognition and preference for her; they appear to use her as a secure base for exploration; and they show clears signs of distress when separated from her (Hennessy, 2003; Jäckel & Trillmich, 2003; Pettijohn, 1979). In sum, effects of maternal separation in the guinea pig are unlikely to be the result of disrupted or altered maternal behavior or the removal of maternal regulation of immature physiological systems of the young.…”

Section: Maternal Separation and Social Buffering: The Role Of Attachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filial attachment and its disruption: Insights from the guinea pig

Hennessy

2014

Developmental Psychobiology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Guinea pigs are precocial rodents that show evidence of a selective attachment to the mother who, in turn, exhibits little active maternal care. Effects of separation in guinea pigs are, therefore, more likely to reflect the disruption of attachment than the removal of, or alterations in, patterns of maternal care. Here, effects in guinea pigs of the presence or absence of the mother on psychobiological endpoints and of maternal separation on depressive-like behavior are reviewed. It is argued that results with guinea pigs often align more closely with those of nonhuman primates than those of laboratory rats and mice, and that the guinea pig offers a valuable translational model for studies of the consequences of attachment and its disruption.

show abstract

“…The maternal separation and the exposure of the pup to a novel environment, which in fact is a disruption of the mother-pup relationship, is involved in the handling procedure. A stable mother-pup interaction seems critical for normal growth and behavioral development, even in nonaltricial species (Bateson et al, 2004;Cameron et al, 2005;Fleming, O'Day, & Kraemer, 1999;Hennessy, 2003). Infant rats rapidly learn the odor characteristics of their mother and the nest and develop a preference for familiar odors (Leon, 1992;Moriceau & Sullivan, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of neonatal novelty exposure on sexual behavior, fear, and stress‐response in adult rats

Benetti

Araujo

Sanvitto

et al. 2007

Developmental Psychobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental stimuli in early life may result in permanent behavioral and physiological changes. Present study evaluated the effects of exposing pups to a novel environment on behaviors (open-field test and sexual behavior) and prolactin stress-responses in adult male rats. Half of a litter was daily removed outside (OUT) from the nest and stimulated by handling for 3 min, while the other half remained inside (IN) the nest and was also handled for the same period during the first 10 days postpartum. Maternal behavior after all the pups were returned to the nest was not different between IN and OUT littermates. In adulthood, OUT males showed increased general and central locomotion activity in the open-field test, reduced sexual behavior, and attenuated prolactin secretion in response to restraint stress compared with the IN littermates. The repeated exposition of rat pups to a novel environment is a causal factor for the long-lasting behavioral and endocrine changes. The premature exposition of the pup to unfamiliar environments decreases fear and stress-response, and also reduces sexual behavior. We suggest that the absence of the odor of the mother may be crucial to explain the effects detected in adulthood.

show abstract

Enduring maternal influences in a precocial rodent

Cited by 45 publications

References 78 publications

Prenatal Stress Alters Hippocampal Neuroglia and Increases Anxiety in Childhood

Prenatal Stress Alters Hippocampal Neuroglia and Increases Anxiety in Childhood

Filial attachment and its disruption: Insights from the guinea pig

Effects of neonatal novelty exposure on sexual behavior, fear, and stress‐response in adult rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About