Plasticity of the stress response early in life: Mechanisms and significance

Kőrösi, Anikó; Baram, Tallie Z.

doi:10.1002/dev.20490

Cited by 68 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Rats reared (and subsequently housed) on corncob bedding exhibited signicantly less-anxious phenotypes compared to those reared (then housed) on wood pulp bedding material. As glucocorticoid receptor, BDNF, CRH, CRH-R1, and CRH-R2 expression (in various neuronal regions) have all been implicated in the expression of fear and anxiety and are sensitive to early life environmental factors, we wished to assess if bedding conditions during early life inuenced the expression of these genes [11,31,[41][42][43]. Hypothalamic CRH, CRH-R1, and CRH-R2 mRNA levels were not signicantly different across conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of housing variables on the development of stress-sensitive behaviors in the rat

Sakhai

Preslik

Francis

2013

Physiology & Behavior

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• Laboratory bedding material inuences developmental programming of rats.• Bedding material during early life can alter stress sensitive measures in adulthood.• Corncob bedding during sensitive periods decreases adult measures of anxiety.• Bedding material during adulthood does not affect adult anxiety-like behavior. Diverse environments early in mammalian life can have profound inuences on the physiology and behavior of developing offspring. Environmental factors can inuence offspring development directly or through perturbations in parental care. In the current study, we wished to determine if the inuence of a single environmental variable, type of bedding material used in laboratory cages, is capable of altering physiological and behavioral outcomes in offspring. Female rats were housed in cages containing wood pulp or corncob bedding and allowed to mature. These rats, while housed on assigned bedding material, were bred and allowed to give birth. At weaning, male offspring were housed on one of the two bedding conditions and tested later in adulthood on stress-sensitive behavioral measures. Postmortem analysis of glucocorticoid receptor expression and CRH mRNA levels were also measured. Maternal care directed at the pups reared in the two different bedding conditions was also recorded. Rats reared from birth on corncob bedding exhibited decreased anxiety-like behavior, as adults, in both open eld and light-dark box tasks compared to wood pulp reared animals. Animals that received similar overall levels of maternal care, regardless of bedding condition, also differed in anxiety-like behaviors as adults, indicating that the bedding condition is capable of altering phenotype independent of maternal care. Despite observed behavioral differences in adult offspring reared in different bedding conditions, no changes in glucocorticoid receptor expression at the level of the hippocampus, frontal cortex, or corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression in the hypothalamus were observed between groups. These results highlight the importance of early life housing variables in programming stress-sensitive behaviors in adult offspring. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oPublished by Elsevier Inc.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of housing variables on the development of stress-sensitive behaviors in the rat

Sakhai

Preslik

Francis

2013

Physiology & Behavior

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“…Rodent models of maternal care have also proven useful. During the 1980s and 1990s, studies by Levine’s group suggested that active sensory input from the mother (dam), rather than passive contact, warmth of the dam’s body, or maternal-derived nutrition, contributed to the future stress responses of neonatal rodents (36–38). Meaney’s group as well as ours identified maternal licking and grooming as among the principal sensory signals from the dam to the developing brains of her offspring (29, 39–42).…”

Section: Animal Studies: Resolving Clinically Driven Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragmentation and Unpredictability of Early-Life Experience in Mental Disorders

Baram

Davis

Obenaus

et al. 2012

AJP

Self Cite

214

231

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Maternal sensory signals in early life play a crucial role in programming the structure and function of the developing brain, promoting vulnerability or resilience to emotional and cognitive disorders. In rodent models of early-life stress, fragmentation and unpredictability of maternally derived sensory signals provoke persistent cognitive and emotional dysfunction in offspring. Similar variability and inconsistency of maternal signals during both gestation and early postnatal human life may influence development of emotional and cognitive functions, including those that underlie later depression and anxiety.

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“…The early life environment plays a pivotal role in shaping the way an individual's brain develops and functions, 18 including variations in nutritional intake (recently reviewed). 19 Although the human brain represents 2% of the body's mass, it consumes 20% of the whole body energy budget, whereas in rodents, the brain mass represents only ~0.2% of body mass and thus Brain development is an energy demanding process that relies heavily upon diet derived nutrients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%