Preconception paternal stress in rats alters dendritic morphology and connectivity in the brain of developing male and female offspring

Childhood Poverty and Brain Development

“…Furthermore, low SES, particularly in very early childhood (prenatal to second year of life), is associated with increases in HPA-mediated inflammatory processes such as hypertension and arthritis in adulthood [Ziol-Guest, Duncan, Kalil, & Boyce, 2012]. The stress effect is consistent with laboratory animal literature showing that infant, gestational, and even preconceptual stress (in either the future dad or mother) alters brain development and behavior [e.g., Bock et al, 2014;Harker, Raza, Williamson, Kolb, & Gibb, 2015;Kolb, Mychasiuk, Muhammad, Li, Frost, & Gibb, 2012]. These studies show that early stress produces impairments in motor and cognitive behaviors measured in adulthood, and this is correlated with neuroanatomical and epigenetic changes relative to unstressed animals.…”

Gene–Environment Interplay and Individual Differences in Behavior

“…Children from mothers that were stressed during pregnancy are at increased risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and impaired cognitive development (Talge, Neal, & Glover, 2007). This increased risk for behavioral disorders might be linked to altered brain structure and function in children and adults exposed to high levels of stress (Buss et al, 2012;Chetty et al, 2014;Harker, Raza, Williamson, Kolb, & Gibb, 2015). The effects of adverse environments on biology are largely mediated through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the human stress response system (Maniam, Antoniadis, & Morris, 2014).…”

Prenatal programming of stress responsiveness and behaviours: Progress and perspectives

“…89 In the rhesus macaque, paternal but not maternal exposure to early-life stress (social separation) resulted in offspring with higher plasma cortisol, and significantly greater emotionality. 94 There is very limited information on the effects of corticosteroid exposure in the preconception period. 91 In another study, chronic variable stress in peripubertal or adult male mice resulted in a blunted stress response in offspring, with larger effects in males than females.…”

“…93 Preconception paternal stress also reduced dendritic spine density in the medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, parietal cortex, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens in offspring. 94 There is very limited information on the effects of corticosteroid exposure in the preconception period. A large Danish study has found no adverse birth outcomes following paternal exposure, although no offspring follow-up was undertaken.…”