Offspring-induced nurturance; Animal-human parallels

Stern, Judith M.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199707)31:1<19::aid-dev3>3.0.co;2-x

Cited by 161 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…The laboratory rat is a particularly good model for the study of maternal behavior. Their offspring are born blind, unable to thermoregulate, defecate, urinate, or protect themselves from attack (Numan, 1994), thus needing considerable maternal care to survive (Stern, 1997). Behaviorally and neurologically, maternal behavior in the rat has also been relatively well characterized (Numan, 1994;Pedersen, Ascher, Monroe, & Prange, 1982;Pedersen, Caldwell, Walker, Ayers, & Mason, 1994) so that any insult to normal maternal behavior can be easily determined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cocaine treatment and prenatal environment interact to disrupt intergenerational maternal behavior in rats.

Johns¹,

Elliott²,

Hofler³

et al. 2005

Behavioral Neuroscience

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The link between impaired maternal behavior (MB) and cocaine treatment could result from druginduced decreases in maternal reactivity to offspring, prenatal drug exposure (PDE) in offspring that could alter their ability to elicit MB, or the interaction of both, which could subsequently impair MB of the 1st-generation dams. Following chronic or intermittent cocaine or saline treatment during gestation, rat dams rearing natural or cross-fostered litters were compared along with untreated dams for MB. Untreated 1st-generation females with differentially treated rearing dams and PDE were tested for MB with their natural litters. The authors report disruptions in MB in dams and their 1st-generation offspring, attributable to main and interaction effects of maternal treatment, litter PDE, and rearing experience. Pregnant women who use cocaine perpetrate child abuse and neglect more often than women who do not use cocaine during pregnancy (Hawley, Halle, Drasin, & Thomas, 1995; Tyler, Howard, Espinosa, & Doakes, 1997; Wasserman & Leventhal, 1993). Maternal cocaine abuse during pregnancy has also been strongly associated with deficits in maternalinfant bonding (Burns, Chethik, Burns, & Clark, 1991), and mothers with a history of substance abuse often exhibit poor mother-infant interactions (Bauman & Dougherty, 1983;Bays, 1990; Howard, Beck-with, Espinosa, & Tyler, 1995;Johnson & Rosen, 1990). Though studies with human participants are helpful in understanding the connection between cocaine use and maternal neglect, these experiments are correlational. There is a necessary lack of control over many important variables that could confound the results, such as socioeconomic issues, lack of family support, multidrug abuse, and poor general prenatal care (Chasnoff et al., 1998;Koren et al., 1998). Studies that use numerous controls have shown a strong correlation between reported history of child maltreatment and the perpetration of maltreatment and/or neglect in next-generation mothers (Egeland, Jacobvitz, & Papatola, 1987;Hunter, Kilstrom, Kraybill, & Loda, 1978).In order to appropriately investigate and describe the characteristics of cocaine-induced disruption of maternal behavior and potential neglect, as well as possible intergenerational effects of such disruptions, a nonhuman cocaine abuse model offers several advantages. The laboratory rat is a particularly good model for the study of maternal behavior. Their offspring are born blind, unable to thermoregulate, defecate, urinate, or protect themselves from attack (Numan, 1994), thus needing considerable maternal care to survive (Stern, 1997). Behaviorally and neurologically, maternal behavior in the rat has also been relatively well characterized (Numan, 1994;Pedersen, Ascher, Monroe, & Prange, 1982;Pedersen, Caldwell, Walker, Ayers, & Mason, 1994) so that any insult to normal maternal behavior can be easily determined.Maternal separation studies also support a rat intergenerational model of behavior showing that cross-fostering results in behavior of offsp...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cocaine treatment and prenatal environment interact to disrupt intergenerational maternal behavior in rats.

Johns¹,

Elliott²,

Hofler³

et al. 2005

Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…The regulation of maternal care in mammals is related to hormonal (Rosenblatt, 1990) and somatosensory stimuli such as sight, sound, and odor, which contribute to contact seeking (Stern, 1997). In this sense, the hormonal correlates of maternal behavior, especially in rats (Rosenblatt, 1990;Rosenblatt et al, 1979;Bridges, 1990), are better understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hormonal changes related to paternal and alloparental care in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Mota

Franci

Sousa

2006

Hormones and Behavior

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The physiological mechanisms of parental and alloparental care in cooperatively breeding nonhuman primate species such as the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) are poorly known. In this study, we examined prolactin and cortisol plasma levels of fathers and older offspring of both sexes, with and without previous experience in infant carrying, around parturition and during infant carrying. Blood samples were collected from fathers and older offspring and prolactin and cortisol were measured by RIA and EIA, respectively. Prolactin levels of both caretakers were not influenced by infant's birth, previous experience or proximity to parturition. However, prolactin levels increased in both caretakers while in physical contact with infants and also with the number of infants being carried in older offspring. These findings suggest that increased prolactin seems to be mainly due to physical effort rather than a physiological trigger of paternal and alloparental care in common marmosets. Cortisol levels were higher for experienced fathers shortly before parturition which could act to reinforce affiliative bonds between breeding males and females at this time or in the ability of males to detect the proximity of the parturition or both. D

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“…A hormonal regimen that mimics the changes in estrogen and progesterone occurring in late pregnancy and parturition reduces the fear of novelty (10, 11) and facilitates the expression of maternal behavior in the rat (5, 12). In virgin females, habituation to the novelty, through continuous exposure to pups (i.e., the pup sensitization paradigm) ultimately results in the onset of maternal behavior even in the absence of hormonal priming (5,8,12). Interestingly, High LG-ABN mothers are significantly less fearful under conditions of novelty than are Low LG-ABN mothers (13).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female rats, unless they are in late pregnancy or lactating, generally show an aversion toward pups (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). The novelty of the pups is the source of aversion and is typical of the generally neophobic adult rat.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Naturally occurring variations in maternal behavior in the rat are associated with differences in estrogen-inducible central oxytocin receptors

Champagne

Diorio

Sharma

et al. 2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

618

497

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Naturally occurring variations in maternal licking͞grooming influence neural development and are transmitted from mother to female offspring. We found that the induction of maternal behavior in virgin females through constant exposure to pups (pup sensitization) was significantly shorter in the offspring of High compared with Low licking͞grooming mothers, suggesting differences in maternal responsivity. In randomly selected females screened for individual differences in maternal responsivity and subsequently mated, there was a significant and negative correlation (r ‫؍‬ ؊0.73) between the latency to exhibit maternal behavior in the pup sensitization paradigm and the frequency of pup licking͞grooming during lactation. Females that were more maternally responsive to pups and that showed increased levels of pup licking͞grooming also showed significantly higher oxytocin receptor levels in the medial preoptic area, the lateral septum, the central nucleus (n.) of the amygdala, the paraventricular n. of the hypothalamus, and the bed n. of the stria terminalis. Intracerebroventricular administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist to mothers on postpartum day 3 completely eliminated the differences in pup licking͞grooming, suggesting that differences in oxytocin receptor levels are functionally related to maternal behavior. Finally, estrogen treatment of virgin females significantly increased oxytocin receptor binding in the medial preoptic area and lateral septum of female offspring of High, but not Low, licking͞grooming mothers. These findings suggest that maternal licking͞grooming influences the development of estrogen sensitivity in brain regions that regulate maternal behavior, providing a potential mechanism for the intergenerational transmission of individual differences in maternal behavior. N aturally occurring variations in maternal care influence the development of behavioral, endocrine, and cognitive stress responses in the rat (1-4). As adults, the offspring of mothers that show increased levels of pup licking͞grooming and archedback nursing (i.e., High LG-ABN mothers) exhibit more modest hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and behavioral responses to stress, and are more proficient in learning to navigate an escape path in the Morris water maze compared with the offspring of Low LG-ABN mothers. The results of cross-fostering studies suggest that the differences in maternal behavior are critical: On each of the measures mentioned above, the biological offspring of Low LG-ABN mothers reared by High LG-ABN dams resembled the normal offspring of High LG-ABN mothers (3, 4). Individual differences in maternal behavior show a comparable pattern of transmission across generations. Thus, the adult, female offspring of High LG-ABN mothers are, themselves, High LG-ABN mothers, whereas those of Low LG-ABN dams are Low LG-ABN mothers. The pattern is reversed with crossfostering (3). These findings suggest that individual differences in stress reactivity and maternal care can be transmitted across generations through a be...

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Offspring-induced nurturance; Animal-human parallels

Cited by 161 publications

References 74 publications

Cocaine treatment and prenatal environment interact to disrupt intergenerational maternal behavior in rats.

Cocaine treatment and prenatal environment interact to disrupt intergenerational maternal behavior in rats.

Hormonal changes related to paternal and alloparental care in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Naturally occurring variations in maternal behavior in the rat are associated with differences in estrogen-inducible central oxytocin receptors

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