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Cobb-Lewis D, George A, Hu S, Packard K, Song M, Nikitah I, Nguyen-Lopez O, Tesone E, Rowden J, Wang J, Opendak M. The lateral habenula integrates age and experience to promote social transitions in developing rats. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114556. [PMID: 39096491 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2024] [Revised: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 07/13/2024] [Indexed: 08/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Early caregiving adversity (ECA) is associated with social behavior deficits and later development of psychopathology. However, the infant neural substrates of ECA are poorly understood. The lateral habenula (LHb), a highly conserved brain region with consistent links to adult psychopathology, is understudied in development, when the brain is most vulnerable to environmental impacts. Here, we describe the structural and functional ontogeny of the LHb and its behavioral role in infant and juvenile rat pups. We show that the LHb promotes a developmental transition in social approach behavior under threat as typically reared infants mature. By contrast, we show that ECA disrupts habenular ontogeny, including volume, protein expression, firing properties, and corticohabenular connectivity. Furthermore, inhibiting a specific corticohabenular projection rescues infant social approach deficits following ECA. Together, these results identify immediate biomarkers of ECA in the LHb and highlight this region as a site of early social processing and behavior control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Cobb-Lewis
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Anne George
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Shannon Hu
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | - Mingyuan Song
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | | | - Oliver Nguyen-Lopez
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Emily Tesone
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Jhanay Rowden
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Julie Wang
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Maya Opendak
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
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2
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Lapp HE, Salazar M, Champagne FA. Postnatal rearing environment alters pup cues for caregiver-offspring interactions. Horm Behav 2024; 165:105630. [PMID: 39186858 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Revised: 08/16/2024] [Accepted: 08/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024]
Abstract
Maternal behavior experienced in early life provides essential scaffolding to infant psychobiology with life-long effects on neurobiological and behavioral outcomes. However, infants are not passive recipients of caregiving. Evidence in rodents suggests that pups actively contribute to dam-pup interactions by soliciting maternal care with auditory, tactile, and hormonal cues. The limited bedding and nesting material (LBN) rearing manipulation induces changes in maternal care that have been attributed to maternal stress caused by the low-resource environment. The goal of the current study was to determine whether LBN also alters pup cues for maternal behavior, with implications for the mechanism of LBN-induced effects. Rat dams and pups were randomly assigned to LBN or Control rearing conditions on postnatal day (P) 0-6 and pups were fostered to the same or different condition on P6-13. LBN increased pup-directed maternal behaviors measured through 24 h monitoring using machine learning based automated analysis. LBN altered several pup cues known to affect maternal behavior including reducing pup core body temperature, reducing body weight, and altering pup vocalizations on P6 and P12. P6-13 LBN-exposed pups had elevated serum testosterone, which positively correlated with maternal licking and grooming. LBN reduced pup movement between nest attendance onset and the start of nursing, which was negatively related to dam nursing latency and contributed to longer nursing latency in LBN dams. P0-6 pup exposure to LBN also led to longer nest attendance bouts and shorter licking and grooming bouts on P7 and P9, suggesting lasting effects of LBN on pups. These data demonstrate that LBN changes pup behavioral and hormonal signals consistent with eliciting more maternal care, contributing to augmented pup-directed behaviors. This bidirectional interplay may be a critical mechanism involved in the lasting effects of early life environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah E Lapp
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keaton St, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America.
| | - Melissa Salazar
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keaton St, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America
| | - Frances A Champagne
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keaton St, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America
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3
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Lyons-Ruth K, Chasson M, Khoury J, Ahtam B. Reconsidering the nature of threat in infancy: Integrating animal and human studies on neurobiological effects of infant stress. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 163:105746. [PMID: 38838878 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2024] [Revised: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/01/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Early life stress has been associated with elevated risk for later psychopathology. One mechanism that may contribute to such long-term risk is alterations in amygdala development, a brain region critical to stress responsivity. Yet effects of stress on the amygdala during human infancy, a period of particularly rapid brain development, remain largely unstudied. In order to model how early stressors may affect infant amygdala development, several discrepancies across the existing literatures on early life stress among rodents and early threat versus deprivation among older human children and adults need to be reconciled. We briefly review the key findings of each of these literatures. We then consider them in light of emerging findings from studies of human infants regarding relations among maternal caregiving, infant cortisol response, and infant amygdala volume. Finally, we advance a developmental salience model of how early threat may impact the rapidly developing infant brain, a model with the potential to integrate across these divergent literatures. Future work to assess the value of this model is also proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karlen Lyons-Ruth
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1493 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02468, USA.
| | - Miriam Chasson
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1493 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02468, USA.
| | - Jennifer Khoury
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1493 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02468, USA.
| | - Banu Ahtam
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging & Developmental Science Center, Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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4
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Cox E, Collins-Pisano C, Montgomery L, Katz JS. A comparative evaluation of the role of olfaction in attachment. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:54. [PMID: 39080076 PMCID: PMC11289241 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01891-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
Olfactory information plays an important role in the attachment and bonding processes for both humans and non-human animals. Odor cues obtained via individual body odor facilitate attachment and bonding processes across species with regard to both mate selection and mother-infant bonding. The purpose of the present paper is to summarize the role of odor as it pertains to bond formation and maintenance in the mother-infant bond for human infants and non-human animal infants, and for mate selection among human adults and non-human animals. We then synthesize this summary with literature on attachment and existing evidence for the relationships between olfaction and attachment processes. Finally, we suggest avenues for areas of future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Cox
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, 226 Thach Hall, AL, 36849, USA.
| | | | - Lane Montgomery
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, 226 Thach Hall, AL, 36849, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Katz
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, 226 Thach Hall, AL, 36849, USA
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5
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Parks BJ, Salazar P, Morrison L, McGraw MK, Gunnell M, Tobacyk J, Brents LK, Berquist MD. Limited bedding and nesting increases ethanol drinking in female rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2024; 239:173756. [PMID: 38555037 PMCID: PMC11088506 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2024.173756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Prenatal opioid exposure (POE) and postnatal adverse experiences are early life adversities (ELA) that often co-occur and increase problematic alcohol (EtOH) drinking during adolescence. We investigated the relationship between POE, postnatal adversity, and adolescent EtOH drinking in rats. We also sought to determine whether ELAs affect alpha-adrenoceptor density in the brain because the noradrenergic system is involved in problematic alcohol drinking and its treatment. We hypothesized that the combination of POE and postnatal adversity will increase alcohol drinking in rats compared to rats with exposure to either adversity alone or to control. We also predicted that POE and postnatal adversity would increase α1-adrenoceptor density and decrease α2-adrenoceptor density in brain to confer a stress-responsive phenotype. Pregnant rats received morphine (15 mg/kg/day) or saline via subcutaneous minipumps from gestational day 9 until birth. Limited bedding and nesting (LBN) procedures were introduced from postnatal day (PD) 3-11 to mimic early life adversity-scarcity. Offspring rats (PD 31-33) were given opportunities to drink EtOH (20 %, v/v) using intermittent-access, two-bottle choice (with water) procedures. Rats given access to EtOH were assigned into sub-groups that were injected with either yohimbine (1 mg/kg, ip) or vehicle (2 % DMSO, ip) 30 min prior to each EtOH access session to determine the effects of α2-adrenoceptor inhibition on alcohol drinking. We harvested cortices, brainstems, and hypothalami from EtOH-naïve littermates on either PD 30 or PD 70 and conducted radioligand receptor binding assays to quantify α1- and α2-adrenoceptor densities. Contrary to our hypothesis, only LBN alone increased EtOH intake in female adolescent rats compared to female rats with POE. Neither POE nor LBN affected α1- or α2-adrenoceptor densities in the cortex, brainstem, or hypothalamus of early- or late-aged adolescent rats. These results suggest a complex interaction between ELA type and sex on alcohol drinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- B J Parks
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - P Salazar
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - L Morrison
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - M K McGraw
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - M Gunnell
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - J Tobacyk
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - L K Brents
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America
| | - M D Berquist
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street, Mail Slot 611, Little Rock, AR 72205, United States of America.
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6
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Cobb-Lewis D, George A, Hu S, Packard K, Song M, Nguyen-Lopez O, Tesone E, Rowden J, Wang J, Opendak M. The lateral habenula integrates age and experience to promote social transitions in developing rats. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.12.575446. [PMID: 38260652 PMCID: PMC10802604 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.12.575446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Social behavior deficits are an early-emerging marker of psychopathology and are linked with early caregiving quality. However, the infant neural substrates linking early care to social development are poorly understood. Here, we focused on the infant lateral habenula (LHb), a highly-conserved brain region at the nexus between forebrain and monoaminergic circuits. Despite its consistent links to adult psychopathology, this brain region has been understudied in development when the brain is most vulnerable to environmental impacts. In a task combining social and threat cues, suppressing LHb principal neurons had opposing effects in infants versus juveniles, suggesting the LHb promotes a developmental switch in social approach behavior under threat. We observed that early caregiving adversity (ECA) disrupts typical growth curves of LHb baseline structure and function, including volume, firing patterns, neuromodulatory receptor expression, and functional connectivity with cortical regions. Further, we observed that suppressing cortical projections to the LHb rescued social approach deficits following ECA, identifying this microcircuit as a substrate for disrupted social behavior. Together, these results identify immediate biomarkers of ECA in the LHb and highlight this region as a site of early social processing and behavior control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana Cobb-Lewis
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Anne George
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Shannon Hu
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | | | - Mingyuan Song
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Oliver Nguyen-Lopez
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Emily Tesone
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Jhanay Rowden
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Julie Wang
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
| | - Maya Opendak
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore MD USA 21205
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD USA 21205
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7
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Lonstein JS, Vitale EM, Olekanma D, McLocklin A, Pence N, Bredewold R, Veenema AH, Johnson AW, Burt SA. Anxiety, aggression, reward sensitivity, and forebrain dopamine receptor expression in a laboratory rat model of early-life disadvantage. Dev Psychobiol 2023; 65:e22421. [PMID: 37860907 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Despite early-life disadvantage (ELD) in humans being a highly heterogenous construct, it consistently predicts negative neurobehavioral outcomes. The numerous environmental contributors and neural mechanisms underlying ELD remain unclear, though. We used a laboratory rat model to evaluate the effects of limited resources and/or heavy metal exposure on mothers and their adult male and female offspring. Dams and litters were chronically exposed to restricted (1-cm deep) or ample (4-cm deep) home cage bedding postpartum, with or without lead acetate (0.1%) in their drinking water from insemination through 1-week postweaning. Restricted-bedding mothers showed more pup-directed behaviors and behavioral fragmentation, while lead-exposed mothers showed more nestbuilding. Restricted bedding-raised male offspring showed higher anxiety and aggression. Either restricted bedding or lead exposure impaired goal-directed performance in a reinforcer devaluation task in females, whereas restricted bedding alone disrupted it in males. Lead exposure, but not limited bedding, also reduced sucrose reward sensitivity in a progressive ratio task in females. D1 and D2 receptor mRNA in the medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens (NAc) were each affected by the early-life treatments and differently between the sexes. Most notably, adult males (but not females) exposed to both early-life treatments had greatly increased D1 receptor mRNA in the NAc core. These results illuminate neural mechanisms through which ELD threatens neurobehavioral development and highlight forebrain dopamine as a factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph S Lonstein
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Erika M Vitale
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Doris Olekanma
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Andrew McLocklin
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Nathan Pence
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Remco Bredewold
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Alexa H Veenema
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Alexander W Johnson
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - S Alexandra Burt
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
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8
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Colombel N, Ferreira G, Sullivan RM, Coureaud G. Dynamic developmental changes in neurotransmitters supporting infant attachment learning. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 151:105249. [PMID: 37257712 PMCID: PMC10754360 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Infant survival relies on rapid identification, remembering and behavioral responsiveness to caregivers' sensory cues. While neural circuits supporting infant attachment learning have largely remained elusive in children, use of invasive techniques has uncovered some of its features in rodents. During a 10-day sensitive period from birth, newborn rodents associate maternal odors with maternal pleasant or noxious thermo-tactile stimulation, which gives rise to a preference and approach behavior towards these odors, and blockade of avoidance learning. Here we review the neural circuitry supporting this neonatal odor learning, unique compared to adults, focusing specifically on the early roles of neurotransmitters such as glutamate, GABA (Gamma-AminoButyric Acid), serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, in the olfactory bulb, the anterior piriform cortex and amygdala. The review highlights the importance of deepening our knowledge of age-specific infant brain neurotransmitters and behavioral functioning that can be translated to improve the well-being of children during typical development and aid in treatment during atypical development in childhood clinical practice, and the care during rearing of domestic animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Colombel
- Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon 1 Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France
| | - Guillaume Ferreira
- FoodCircus group, NutriNeuro Lab, INRAE 1286, Bordeaux University, Bordeaux, France
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, The Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, USA
| | - Gérard Coureaud
- Sensory NeuroEthology Group, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR 5292, Lyon 1 University, Jean-Monnet University, Bron, France.
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9
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Maier JX, Zhang Z. Early development of olfactory circuit function. Front Cell Neurosci 2023; 17:1225186. [PMID: 37565031 PMCID: PMC10410114 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2023.1225186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
During early development, brains undergo profound changes in structure at the molecular, synaptic, cellular and circuit level. At the same time, brains need to perform adaptive function. How do structurally immature brains process information? How do brains perform stable and reliable function despite massive changes in structure? The rodent olfactory system presents an ideal model for approaching these poorly understood questions. Rodents are born deaf and blind, and rely completely on their sense of smell to acquire resources essential for survival during the first 2 weeks of life, such as food and warmth. Here, we review decades of work mapping structural changes in olfactory circuits during early development, as well as more recent studies performing in vivo electrophysiological recordings to characterize functional activity patterns generated by these circuits. The findings demonstrate that neonatal olfactory processing relies on an interacting network of brain areas including the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex. Circuits in these brain regions exhibit varying degrees of structural maturity in neonatal animals. However, despite substantial ongoing structural maturation of circuit elements, the neonatal olfactory system produces dynamic network-level activity patterns that are highly stable over protracted periods during development. We discuss how these findings inform future work aimed at elucidating the circuit-level mechanisms underlying information processing in the neonatal olfactory system, how they support unique neonatal behaviors, and how they transition between developmental stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joost X. Maier
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
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10
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Liu Y, Shan L, Liu T, Li J, Chen Y, Sun C, Yang C, Bian X, Niu Y, Zhang C, Xi J, Rao Y. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the first social relationship: A conserved role of 5-HT from mice to monkeys, upstream of oxytocin. Neuron 2023; 111:1468-1485.e7. [PMID: 36868221 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023]
Abstract
Maternal affiliation by infants is the first social behavior of mammalian animals. We report here that elimination of the Tph2 gene essential for serotonin synthesis in the brain reduced affiliation in mice, rats, and monkeys. Calcium imaging and c-fos immunostaining showed maternal odors activation of serotonergic neurons in the raphe nuclei (RNs) and oxytocinergic neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Genetic elimination of oxytocin (OXT) or its receptor reduced maternal preference. OXT rescued maternal preference in mouse and monkey infants lacking serotonin. Tph2 elimination from RN serotonergic neurons innervating PVN reduced maternal preference. Reduced maternal preference after inhibiting serotonergic neurons was rescued by oxytocinergic neuronal activation. Our genetic studies reveal a role for serotonin in affiliation conserved from mice and rats to monkeys, while electrophysiological, pharmacological, chemogenetic, and optogenetic studies uncover OXT downstream of serotonin. We suggest serotonin as the master regulator upstream of neuropeptides in mammalian social behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Liu
- Chinese Institutes for Medical Research (CIMR) and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 10069, China.
| | - Liang Shan
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, Zhongguangcun Life Science Park, Beijing, China
| | - Tiane Liu
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, Zhongguangcun Life Science Park, Beijing, China
| | - Juan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yongchang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Changhong Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Chaojuan Yang
- Chinese Institutes for Medical Research (CIMR) and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 10069, China
| | - Xiling Bian
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, Zhongguangcun Life Science Park, Beijing, China
| | - Yuyu Niu
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Chen Zhang
- Chinese Institutes for Medical Research (CIMR) and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 10069, China
| | - Jianzhong Xi
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yi Rao
- Chinese Institutes for Medical Research (CIMR) and Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neural Regeneration and Repair, Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 10069, China; PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Changping Laboratory, Yard 28, Science Park Road, Changping District, Beijing, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, Zhongguangcun Life Science Park, Beijing, China; Research Unit of Medical Neurobiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
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11
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Ferrara NC, Opendak M. Amygdala circuit transitions supporting developmentally-appropriate social behavior. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2023; 201:107762. [PMID: 37116857 PMCID: PMC10204580 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/30/2023]
Abstract
Social behaviors dynamically change throughout the lifespan alongside the maturation of neural circuits. The basolateral region of the amygdala (BLA), in particular, undergoes substantial maturational changes from birth throughout adolescence that are characterized by changes in excitation, inhibition, and dopaminergic modulation. In this review, we detail the trajectory through which BLA circuits mature and are influenced by dopaminergic systems to guide transitions in social behavior in infancy and adolescence using data from rodents. In early life, social behavior is oriented towards approaching the attachment figure, with minimal BLA involvement. Around weaning age, dopaminergic innervation of the BLA introduces avoidance of novel peers into rat pups' behavioral repertoire. In adolescence, social behavior transitions towards peer-peer interactions with a high incidence of social play-related behaviors. This transition coincides with an increasing role of the BLA in the regulation of social behavior. Adolescent BLA maturation can be characterized by an increasing integration and function of local inhibitory GABAergic circuits and their engagement by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Manipulation of these transitions using viral circuit dissection techniques and early adversity paradigms reveals the sensitivity of this system and its role in producing age-appropriate social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole C Ferrara
- Discipline of Physiology and Biophysics, Department of Foundational Sciences and Humanities, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, USA; Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Maya Opendak
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA; Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Johns Hopkins Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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12
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Points of divergence on a bumpy road: early development of brain and immune threat processing systems following postnatal adversity. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:269-283. [PMID: 35705633 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01658-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Lifelong indices of maladaptive behavior or illness often stem from early physiological aberrations during periods of dynamic development. This is especially true when dysfunction is attributable to early life adversity (ELA), when the environment itself is unsuitable to support development of healthy behavior. Exposure to ELA is strongly associated with atypical sensitivity and responsivity to potential threats-a characteristic that could be adaptive in situations where early adversity prepares individuals for lifelong danger, but which often manifests in difficulties with emotion regulation and social relationships. By synthesizing findings from animal research, this review will consider threat sensitivity through the lenses of associated corticolimbic brain circuitry and immune mechanisms, both of which are immature early in life to maximize adaptation for protection against environmental challenges to an individual's well-being. The forces that drive differential development of corticolimbic circuits include caretaking stimuli, physiological and psychological stressors, and sex, which influences developmental trajectories. These same forces direct developmental processes of the immune system, which bidirectionally communicates with sensory systems and emotion regulation circuits within the brain. Inflammatory signals offer a further force influencing the timing and nature of corticolimbic plasticity, while also regulating sensitivity to future threats from the environment (i.e., injury or pathogens). The early development of these systems programs threat sensitivity through juvenility and adolescence, carving paths for probable function throughout adulthood. To strategize prevention or management of maladaptive threat sensitivity in ELA-exposed populations, it is necessary to fully understand these early points of divergence.
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13
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Packard K, Opendak M. Rodent models of early adversity: Impacts on developing social behavior circuitry and clinical implications. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:918862. [PMID: 35990728 PMCID: PMC9385963 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.918862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Flexible and context-appropriate social functioning is key for survival across species. This flexibility also renders social behavior highly plastic, particularly during early development when attachment to caregiver can provide a template for future social processing. As a result, early caregiving adversity can have unique and lasting impacts on social behavior and even confer vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. However, the neural circuit mechanisms translating experience to outcome remain poorly understood. Here, we consider social behavior scaffolding through the lens of reward and threat processing. We begin by surveying several complementary rodent models of early adversity, which together have highlighted impacts on neural circuits processing social cues. We next explore these circuits underlying perturbed social functioning with focus on dopamine (DA) and its role in regions implicated in social and threat processing such as the prefrontal cortex (PFC), basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the lateral habenula (LHb). Finally, we turn to human populations once more to examine how altered DA signaling and LHb dysfunction may play a role in social anhedonia, a common feature in diagnoses such as schizophrenia and major depressive disorder (MDD). We argue that this translational focus is critical for identifying specific features of adversity that confer heightened vulnerability for clinical outcomes involving social cue processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine Packard
- Department of Neuroscience, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Maya Opendak
- Department of Neuroscience, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
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14
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Mullins JL, Zhou E, Glenn DE, Moroney E, Lee SS, Michalska KJ. Paternal expressed emotion influences psychobiological indicators of threat and safety learning in daughters: A preliminary study. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22205. [PMID: 34674231 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
This preliminary study examined the association of children's anxiety, paternal expressed emotion (EE), and their interaction with psychophysiological indices of children's threat and safety learning. Participants included 24 father-daughter dyads. Daughters (ages 8-13 years, 100% Latina) self-reported their anxiety levels and completed a differential threat conditioning and extinction paradigm, during which psychophysiological responding was collected. Fathers completed a Five-Minute Speech Sample, from which paternal EE (i.e., criticism, emotional overinvolvement) was assessed. Anxiety-dependent associations emerged between paternal EE and individual differences in daughters' psychophysiological responding to safety signals during threat conditioning. Paternal EE was positively associated with psychophysiological responding to safety in daughters with high and mean, but not low, levels of anxiety. Although previous work suggests that chronic harsh maternal parenting is a potential risk factor for children's general threat and safety learning, these preliminary findings implicate milder forms of negative parenting behavior in fathers, particularly for highly anxious children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan L Mullins
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Elayne Zhou
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Dana E Glenn
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Elizabeth Moroney
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Steve S Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Kalina J Michalska
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
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15
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Opendak M, Raineki C, Perry RE, Rincón-Cortés M, Song SC, Zanca RM, Wood E, Packard K, Hu S, Woo J, Martinez K, Vinod KY, Brown RW, Deehan GA, Froemke RC, Serrano PA, Wilson DA, Sullivan RM. Bidirectional control of infant rat social behavior via dopaminergic innervation of the basolateral amygdala. Neuron 2021; 109:4018-4035.e7. [PMID: 34706218 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Social interaction deficits seen in psychiatric disorders emerge in early-life and are most closely linked to aberrant neural circuit function. Due to technical limitations, we have limited understanding of how typical versus pathological social behavior circuits develop. Using a suite of invasive procedures in awake, behaving infant rats, including optogenetics, microdialysis, and microinfusions, we dissected the circuits controlling the gradual increase in social behavior deficits following two complementary procedures-naturalistic harsh maternal care and repeated shock alone or with an anesthetized mother. Whether the mother was the source of the adversity (naturalistic Scarcity-Adversity) or merely present during the adversity (repeated shock with mom), both conditions elevated basolateral amygdala (BLA) dopamine, which was necessary and sufficient in initiating social behavior pathology. This did not occur when pups experienced adversity alone. These data highlight the unique impact of social adversity as causal in producing mesolimbic dopamine circuit dysfunction and aberrant social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Opendak
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
| | - Charlis Raineki
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada
| | - Rosemarie E Perry
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
| | - Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA 15260, USA
| | - Soomin C Song
- Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Roseanna M Zanca
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Department of Psychology, CUNY Hunter College, New York, 10016, USA; The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, 10016, USA
| | - Emma Wood
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Katherine Packard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Shannon Hu
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Joyce Woo
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Krissian Martinez
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - K Yaragudri Vinod
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Analytical Psychopharmacology, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA
| | - Russell W Brown
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA
| | - Gerald A Deehan
- Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA
| | - Robert C Froemke
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Peter A Serrano
- Department of Psychology, CUNY Hunter College, New York, 10016, USA; The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, 10016, USA
| | - Donald A Wilson
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA; Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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16
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Shupe EA, Clinton SM. Neonatal resource scarcity alters maternal care and impacts offspring core temperature and growth in rats. Dev Psychobiol 2021; 63:e22144. [PMID: 34053070 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Stressful experiences during childhood, including poverty and inconsistent parental care, can enhance vulnerability for worsened physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Using Sprague Dawley rats, the present study explored the impact of limited resource availability on maternal behavior and physiological and emotional behavior outcomes in the offspring. Early life adversity was induced by incorporating aspects of the limited bedding and nesting and scarcity models, wherein limited resource availability has previously been shown to provoke unpredictable or adverse maternal care respectively. In our hands, neonatal limited bedding (NLB) stress during postnatal days (P)2-9 altered maternal care, augmenting pup-directed behaviors and reducing self-directed behaviors, and modestly increased the frequency of transitions between discrete behaviors across consecutive timed observations. NLB-exposed pups had lower core body temperatures immediately following the stressful manipulation and exhibited decreased body weight gain across development. However, NLB exposure did not impact adult offspring's social or emotional behavior outcomes in the three-chamber social interaction, novelty-suppressed feeding, splash, or forced swim tests. These findings add to the literature demonstrating that early life adversity impacts maternal care in rodents and can disrupt certain metabolic and thermoregulatory outcomes in the offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Shupe
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Sarah M Clinton
- School of Neuroscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
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17
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Sullivan RM, Opendak M. Neurobiology of Infant Fear and Anxiety: Impacts of Delayed Amygdala Development and Attachment Figure Quality. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:641-650. [PMID: 33109337 PMCID: PMC7914291 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 08/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness and are more likely to emerge during childhood compared with most other psychiatric disorders. While research on children is the gold standard for understanding the behavioral expression of anxiety and its neural circuitry, the ethical and technical limitations in exploring neural underpinnings limit our understanding of the child's developing brain. Instead, we must rely on animal models to build strong methodological bridges for bidirectional translation to child development research. Using the caregiver-infant context, we review the rodent literature on early-life fear development to characterize developmental transitions in amygdala function underlying age-specific behavioral transitions. We then describe how this system can be perturbed by early-life adversity, including reduced efficacy of the caregiver as a safe haven. We suggest that greater integration of clinically informed animal research enhances bidirectional translation to permit new approaches to therapeutics for children with early onset anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York, NY USA,Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY USA
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York, NY USA,Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY USA
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18
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Ifran MC, Suárez AB, Avellaneda MA, Kamenetzky GV. The presence of chemosensory cues transmitted through the mother's milk increases the search and ingestion responses toward bitter and sour solutions. Appetite 2021; 161:105147. [PMID: 33535059 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Olfaction is of major importance during early stages of life in altricial species. This sense allows newborns to develop different behaviors that will allow them to survive. Odors tend to be associated to contextual stimuli (such as warmth); this, in turn, enables the pups to recognize when to withdraw or approach. At the same time, olfaction modulates the acceptance of aversive flavors. The increase of approach responses toward a bitter substance during early life is enhanced by stimulation with familiar, pre-exposed odors. Newborn rats exhibit heightened grasp responses toward an artificial nipple dispensing quinine, and drink more of this bitter solution, in the presence of a pre-exposed odor (lemon or the mother's odor). The present research assessed the replicability of previous results by pre-exposing the subjects to the scent through maternal milk and using solutions with different aversive tastes. Half of the subjects (3 day-old Wistar rats) were pre-exposed to lemon odor through the maternal milk (the mother had previously ingested the lemon essence via an intragastric injection); 4 h later, all the rats were evaluated in the presence of the lemon odor with an artificial nipple containing quinine, citric acid, saline solution, or water. The results showed enhanced seeking and intake of the bitter (quinine) and sour solution (citric acid). However, this did not occur when the nipple contained water or saline solution. The evidence suggests that: During the early stages of development, familiar odors regulate the acceptance of non-palatable, otherwise rejected, flavors; and that the route of transmission of the pre-exposed odor can be through air, or through food (amniotic fluid in previous studies and, in this case, breast milk), that is, via the retronasal and orthonasal routes.
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Affiliation(s)
- María C Ifran
- Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A Lanari, IDIM-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150, CP 1427, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Abierta Interamericana - Centro de Altos Estudios en Ciencias Humanas y de La Salud, Av. Montes de Oca 745, CP 1270, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Andrea B Suárez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A Lanari, IDIM-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150, CP 1427, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Matías A Avellaneda
- Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A Lanari, IDIM-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150, CP 1427, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Giselle V Kamenetzky
- Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A Lanari, IDIM-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150, CP 1427, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Abierta Interamericana - Centro de Altos Estudios en Ciencias Humanas y de La Salud, Av. Montes de Oca 745, CP 1270, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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19
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Perry RE, Braren SH, Opendak M, Brandes-Aitken A, Chopra D, Woo J, Sullivan R, Blair C. Elevated infant cortisol is necessary but not sufficient for transmission of environmental risk to infant social development: Cross-species evidence of mother-infant physiological social transmission. Dev Psychopathol 2020; 32:1696-1714. [PMID: 33427190 PMCID: PMC8951448 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579420001455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Environmental adversity increases child susceptibility to disrupted developmental outcomes, but the mechanisms by which adversity can shape development remain unclear. A translational cross-species approach was used to examine stress-mediated pathways by which poverty-related adversity can influence infant social development. Findings from a longitudinal sample of low-income mother-infant dyads indicated that infant cortisol (CORT) on its own did not mediate relations between early-life scarcity-adversity exposure and later infant behavior in a mother-child interaction task. However, maternal CORT through infant CORT served as a mediating pathway, even when controlling for parenting behavior. Findings using a rodent "scarcity-adversity" model indicated that pharmacologically blocking pup corticosterone (CORT, rodent equivalent to cortisol) in the presence of a stressed mother causally prevented social transmission of scarcity-adversity effects on pup social behavior. Furthermore, pharmacologically increasing pup CORT without the mother present was not sufficient to disrupt pup social behavior. Integration of our cross-species results suggests that elevated infant CORT may be necessary, but without elevated caregiver CORT, may not be sufficient in mediating the effects of environmental adversity on development. These findings underscore the importance of considering infant stress physiology in relation to the broader social context, including caregiver stress physiology, in research and interventional efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemarie E. Perry
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stephen H. Braren
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Divija Chopra
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joyce Woo
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Regina Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Clancy Blair
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
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20
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Modified limited bedding and nesting is a model of early-life stress that affects reproductive physiology and behavior in female and male Long-Evans rats. Physiol Behav 2020; 224:113037. [PMID: 32603746 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
We used a modification of the limited bedding and nesting (LBN) model to evaluate the effects of early-life stress (ELS) on female and male reproductive physiology and behavior in Long-Evans rats. On postnatal day (PD) 2, dams and pups were transferred to a cage containing 100 mL of bedding (LBN condition) or to a cage containing 500 mL of bedding (control condition); bedding conditions remained until PD 10. In female rats, we measured vaginal opening, estrous cyclicity, female sexual behavior and motivation, and anxiety-like behavior. In male rats, we measured preputial separation, the development of male copulatory behavior, sexual motivation, and anxiety-like behavior. We found that relative to controls, female rats reared with LBN experienced precocious puberty and enhanced sexual motivation, but normal estrous cyclicity. Relative to controls, male rats reared with LBN experienced delayed puberty and enhanced sexual motivation, but normal development of copulatory behavior. Anxiety-like behavior was not affected by LBN in either female or male rats. In summary, the ELS of being reared with LBN affected the onset of puberty in the opposite direction in females and males, but enhanced sexual motivation in both. The current study is the first to examine the effects of ELS on sexual motivation using the LBN model. These findings further support the hypothesis that maternal care affects the development of sexual maturation and sexual motivation.
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21
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Alteba S, Mizrachi Zer-Aviv T, Tenenhaus A, Ben David G, Adelman J, Hillard CJ, Doron R, Akirav I. Antidepressant-like effects of URB597 and JZL184 in male and female rats exposed to early life stress. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2020; 39:70-86. [PMID: 32891517 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) may increase predisposition to depression. Despite extensive research, there is still a lack of knowledge of how to optimally treat depression. We aimed to establish a role for the endocannabinoid (ECB) system within the hippocampal-nucleus accumbens (NAc) network as a possible effective target in combating the pathophysiological development of depression-like behavior and neuronal alterations that are precipitated by ELS. Male and female rats were exposed to ELS during post-natal days (P) 7-14, injected with the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 or the monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibitor JZL184 for 2 weeks during late-adolescence (P45-60). Rats were tested starting at P90 for depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors as well as social preference and recognition; alterations in FAAH and MAGL activity; the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF); and plasticity in the hippocampal-NAc pathway. FAAH and MAGL inhibitors during late-adolescence prevented: (i) the long-term effects of ELS on depression- and anxiety-like behavior and the impairment in social behavior and neuronal plasticity in males and females; (ii) ELS-induced alterations in MAGL activity in males' hippocampus and females' hippocampus and NAc; and (iii) ELS-induced alterations in BDNF in males' hippocampus and NAc and females' hippocampus. Significant correlations were observed between alterations in MAGL and BDNF levels and the behavioral phenotype. The findings suggest that alterations in MAGL activity and BDNF expression in the hippocampal-NAc network contribute to the depressive-like behavioral phenotype in ELS males and females. Moreover, the study suggests FAAH and MAGL inhibitors as potential intervention drugs for depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shirley Alteba
- School of Psychological Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Tomer Mizrachi Zer-Aviv
- School of Psychological Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Adi Tenenhaus
- Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, Israel
| | - Gilad Ben David
- Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, Israel
| | - Jacob Adelman
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience Research Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226, USA
| | - Cecilia J Hillard
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience Research Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226, USA
| | - Ravid Doron
- Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, Israel
| | - Irit Akirav
- School of Psychological Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBR), University of Haifa, Haifa, 3498838, Israel.
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22
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Sheridan MA, Shi F, Miller AB, Sahali C, McLaughlin KA. Network structure reveals clusters of associations between childhood adversities and development outcomes. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12934. [PMID: 31869484 PMCID: PMC7308216 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to childhood adversity is common and associated with a host of negative developmental outcomes. The most common approach used to examine the consequences of adversity exposure is a cumulative risk model. Recently, we have proposed a novel approach, the dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology (DMAP), where different dimensions of adversity are hypothesized to impact health and well-being through different pathways. We expect deprivation to primarily disrupt cognitive processing, whereas we expect threat to primarily alter emotional reactivity and automatic regulation. Recent hypothesis-driven approaches provide support for these differential associations of deprivation and threat on developmental outcomes. However, it is not clear whether these patterns would emerge using data-driven approaches. Here we use a network analytic approach to identify clusters of related adversity exposures and outcomes in an initial study (Study 1: N = 277 adolescents aged 16-17 years; 55.1% female) and a replication (Study 2: N = 262 children aged 8-16 years; 45.4% female). We statistically compare our observed clusters with our hypothesized DMAP model and a clustering we hypothesize would be the result of a cumulative stress model. In both samples we observed a network structure consistent with the DMAP model and statistically different than the hypothesized cumulative stress model. Future work seeking to identify in the pathways through which adversity impacts development should consider multiple dimensions of adversity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Feng Shi
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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23
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Scarola S, Kent M, Neal S, Trejo JP, Bardi M, Lambert K. Postpartum environmental challenges alter maternal responsiveness and offspring development. Horm Behav 2020; 122:104761. [PMID: 32330549 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Because many threats exist in an animal's natural habitat, it is important to understand the impact of environmental challenges on maternal-offspring interactions and outcomes. In the current study, a rodent model incorporating the presence of restricted resources and an environmental threat (e.g. predator-related odors and sounds) was investigated. Specifically, pregnant females were assigned to one of four treatments: standard resources, without threat (SR; n = 7); standard resources plus threat (SR-T; n = 8); restricted resources, without threat (RR; n = 7); and restricted resources plus threat (RR-T; n = 6). Maternal rats were moved into the assigned conditions on postnatal day 2 and remained until pups were weaned. Following a standard pup retrieval task on postnatal days 2 and 6, maternal rats were exposed to a retrieval challenge task on postnatal day 8 in which each rat had to traverse a novel barrier to retrieve pups. For neurobiological measures of stress/resilience responsiveness, fecal samples were collected for detection of corticosterone and DHEA metabolites; additionally, immunohistochemistry was conducted on the maternal brains to indicate the presence of Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) immunoreactivity in the hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus. Pup development measures, including body weight and tail length, were also collected. Results suggest that maternal rats with restricted resources exhibited diminished maternal responsiveness that resulted in altered pup development measures; further, restricted resource rats exhibited endocrine markers of compromised emotional resilience (lower DHEA) and decreased neural markers of neuroplasticity (BDNF) and emotional resilience (NPY). Interestingly, predator threat affected various aspects of maternal-pup interactions but had no effect on neurobiological variables, suggesting that restricted resources had a more negative impact on maternal-related outcomes than the presence of predator threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha Scarola
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005, USA
| | - Molly Kent
- Department of Biology, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA 25440, USA
| | - Steven Neal
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005, USA
| | - Jose Perdomo Trejo
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005, USA
| | - Massimo Bardi
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA 23005, USA
| | - Kelly Lambert
- Department of Psychology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, USA.
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24
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Opendak M, Theisen E, Blomkvist A, Hollis K, Lind T, Sarro E, Lundström JN, Tottenham N, Dozier M, Wilson DA, Sullivan RM. Adverse caregiving in infancy blunts neural processing of the mother. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1119. [PMID: 32111822 PMCID: PMC7048726 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14801-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The roots of psychopathology frequently take shape during infancy in the context of parent-infant interactions and adversity. Yet, neurobiological mechanisms linking these processes during infancy remain elusive. Here, using responses to attachment figures among infants who experienced adversity as a benchmark, we assessed rat pup cortical local field potentials (LFPs) and behaviors exposed to adversity in response to maternal rough and nurturing handling by examining its impact on pup separation-reunion with the mother. We show that during adversity, pup cortical LFP dynamic range decreased during nurturing maternal behaviors, but was minimally impacted by rough handling. During reunion, adversity-experiencing pups showed aberrant interactions with mother and blunted cortical LFP. Blocking pup stress hormone during either adversity or reunion restored typical behavior, LFP power, and cross-frequency coupling. This translational approach suggests adversity-rearing produces a stress-induced aberrant neurobehavioral processing of the mother, which can be used as an early biomarker of later-life pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Opendak
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, 10016, USA. .,Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA.
| | - Emma Theisen
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA
| | - Anna Blomkvist
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, 10016, USA.,Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kaitlin Hollis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Teresa Lind
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, UCSD, San Diego, CA, USA.,Child and Adolescent Services Research Center (CASRC), San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Emma Sarro
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, 10016, USA.,Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA.,Dominican College, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA
| | - Johan N Lundström
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mary Dozier
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Donald A Wilson
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, 10016, USA.,Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA.,Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, 10016, USA. .,Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA. .,Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
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25
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Cirulli F, Musillo C, Berry A. Maternal Obesity as a Risk Factor for Brain Development and Mental Health in the Offspring. Neuroscience 2020; 447:122-135. [PMID: 32032668 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.01.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Revised: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Maternal obesity plays a key role in the health trajectory of the offspring. Although research on this topic has largely focused on the potential of this condition to increase the risk for child obesity, it is becoming more and more evident that it can also significantly impact cognitive function and mental health. The mechanisms underlying these effects are starting to be elucidated and point to the placenta as a critical organ that may mediate changes in the response to stress, immune function and oxidative stress. Long-term effects of maternal obesity may rely upon epigenetic changes in selected genes that are involved in metabolic and trophic regulations of the brain. More recent evidence also indicates the gut microbiota as a potential mediator of these effects. Overall, understanding cause-effect relationships can allow the development of preventive measures that could rely upon dietary changes in the mother and the offspring. Addressing diets appears more feasible than developing new pharmacological targets and has the potential to affect the multiple interconnected physiological pathways engaged by these complex regulations, allowing prevention of both metabolic and mental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Cirulli
- Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
| | - Chiara Musillo
- Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra Berry
- Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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26
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Perry RE, Braren SH, Rincón-Cortés M, Brandes-Aitken AN, Chopra D, Opendak M, Alberini CM, Sullivan RM, Blair C. Enhancing Executive Functions Through Social Interactions: Causal Evidence Using a Cross-Species Model. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2472. [PMID: 31803087 PMCID: PMC6877690 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
It has long been theorized that humans develop higher mental functions, such as executive functions (EFs), within the context of interpersonal interactions and social relationships. Various components of social interactions, such as interpersonal communication, perspective taking, and conforming/adhering to social rules, may create important (and perhaps even necessary) opportunities for the acquisition and continued practice of EF skills. Furthermore, positive and stable relationships facilitate the development and maintenance of EFs across the lifespan. However, experimental studies investigating the extent to which social experiences contribute causally to the development of EFs are lacking. Here, we present experimental evidence that social experiences and the acquisition of social skills influence the development of EFs. Specifically, using a rat model, we demonstrate that following exposure to early-life adversity, a socialization intervention causally improves working memory in peri-adolescence. Our findings combined with the broader literature promote the importance of cultivating social skills in support of EF development and maintenance across the lifespan. Additionally, cross-species research will provide insight into causal mechanisms by which social experiences influence cognitive development and contribute to the development of biologically sensitive interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemarie E. Perry
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Stephen H. Braren
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | | | - Divija Chopra
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | | | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Clancy Blair
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
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27
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Early Life Trauma Has Lifelong Consequences for Sleep And Behavior. Sci Rep 2019; 9:16701. [PMID: 31723235 PMCID: PMC6853921 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53241-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep quality varies widely across individuals, especially during normal aging, with impaired sleep contributing to deficits in cognition and emotional regulation. Sleep can also be impacted by a variety of adverse events, including childhood adversity. Here we examined how early life adverse events impacted later life sleep structure and physiology using an animal model to test the relationship between early life adversity and sleep quality across the life span. Rat pups were exposed to an Adversity-Scarcity model from postnatal day 8–12, where insufficient bedding for nest building induces maternal maltreatment of pups. Polysomnography and sleep physiology were assessed in weaning, early adult and older adults. Early life adversity induced age-dependent disruptions in sleep and behavior, including lifelong spindle decreases and later life NREM sleep fragmentation. Given the importance of sleep in cognitive and emotional functions, these results highlight an important factor driving variation in sleep, cognition and emotion throughout the lifespan that suggest age-appropriate and trauma informed treatment of sleep problems.
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28
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During infant maltreatment, stress targets hippocampus, but stress with mother present targets amygdala and social behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:22821-22832. [PMID: 31636210 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1907170116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Infant maltreatment increases vulnerability to physical and mental disorders, yet specific mechanisms embedded within this complex infant experience that induce this vulnerability remain elusive. To define critical features of maltreatment-induced vulnerability, rat pups were reared from postnatal day 8 (PN8) with a maltreating mother, which produced amygdala and hippocampal deficits and decreased social behavior at PN13. Next, we deconstructed the maltreatment experience to reveal sufficient and necessary conditions to induce this phenotype. Social behavior and amygdala deficits (volume, neurogenesis, c-Fos, local field potential) required combined chronic high corticosterone and maternal presence (not maternal behavior). Hippocampal deficits were induced by chronic high corticosterone regardless of social context. Causation was shown by blocking corticosterone during maltreatment and suppressing amygdala activity during social behavior testing. These results highlight (1) that early life maltreatment initiates multiple pathways to pathology, each with distinct causal mechanisms and outcomes, and (2) the importance of social presence on brain development.
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29
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Perry RE, Rincón-Cortés M, Braren SH, Brandes-Aitken AN, Opendak M, Pollonini G, Chopra D, Raver CC, Alberini CM, Blair C, Sullivan RM. Corticosterone administration targeting a hypo-reactive HPA axis rescues a socially-avoidant phenotype in scarcity-adversity reared rats. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 40:100716. [PMID: 31704654 PMCID: PMC6939642 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
It is well-established that children from low-income, under-resourced families are at increased risk of altered social development. However, the biological mechanisms by which poverty-related adversities can “get under the skin” to influence social behavior are poorly understood and cannot be easily ascertained using human research alone. This study utilized a rodent model of “scarcity-adversity,” which encompasses material resource deprivation (scarcity) and reduced caregiving quality (adversity), to explore how early-life scarcity-adversity causally influences social behavior via disruption of developing stress physiology. Results showed that early-life scarcity-adversity exposure increased social avoidance when offspring were tested in a social approach test in peri-adolescence. Furthermore, early-life scarcity-adversity led to blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity as measured via adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) reactivity following the social approach test. Western blot analysis of brain tissue revealed that glucocorticoid receptor levels in the dorsal (but not ventral) hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex were significantly elevated in scarcity-adversity reared rats following the social approach test. Finally, pharmacological repletion of CORT in scarcity-adversity reared peri-adolescents rescued social behavior. Our findings provide causal support that early-life scarcity-adversity exposure negatively impacts social development via a hypocorticosteronism-dependent mechanism, which can be targeted via CORT administration to rescue social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosemarie E Perry
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Stephen H Braren
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Annie N Brandes-Aitken
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Gabriella Pollonini
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| | - Divija Chopra
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - C Cybele Raver
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Cristina M Alberini
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| | - Clancy Blair
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 627 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA.
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute & Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, 1 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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30
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Orso R, Creutzberg KC, Wearick-Silva LE, Wendt Viola T, Tractenberg SG, Benetti F, Grassi-Oliveira R. How Early Life Stress Impact Maternal Care: A Systematic Review of Rodent Studies. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:197. [PMID: 31555106 PMCID: PMC6724664 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Maternal care refers to the behavior performed by the dam to nourish and protect her litter during its early development. Frequent and high-quality performance of such maternal behaviors is critical for the neurodevelopment of the pups. Maternal exposure to stress during early development can impair maternal care and amplify the deleterious effects of poor maternal caregiving and neglect. As such, a thorough understanding of the effects caused by several models of early life stress on maternal care may yield more insights into the relationship between stress and maternal behavior. Methods: A systematic review was performed to identify and address the effects of early life stress on maternal behavior. The search was conducted using three online databases: PUBMED, Embase, and Web of Science. To provide clear evidence of the impact of stress on maternal care, in every study, the stress group was always compared to a control group. Outcomes were categorized into eight different behaviors: (1) licking/grooming; (2) arched-back nursing; (3) blanket-nursing/passive nursing; (4) nest building; (5) contact with pups; (6) harmful/adverse caregiving; (7) no contact; (8) nest exits. Additionally, the methodological quality of the studies was evaluated. Results: A total of 12 different early life stress protocols were identified from the 56 studies included in this systematic review. Our data demonstrate that different stress models can promote specific maternal patterns of behavior. Regarding the maternal separation protocol, we observed an overall increase in nursing and licking/grooming behaviors, which are essential for pup development. An increase in the number of nest exits, which represents a fragmentation of maternal care, was observed in the limited bedding protocol, but the total amount of maternal care appears to remain similar between groups. Conclusions: Each stress protocol has unique characteristics that increase the difficulty of rendering comparisons of maternal behavior. The increase in maternal care observed in the maternal separation protocol may be an attempt to overcompensate for the time off-nest. Fragmented maternal care is a key component of the limited bedding protocol. Moreover, the methodological approaches to evaluate maternal behavior, such as time, duration, and behavior type should be more homogeneous across studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Orso
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Brain Institute (Instituto do Cérebro), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Kerstin Camile Creutzberg
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Brain Institute (Instituto do Cérebro), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Luis Eduardo Wearick-Silva
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Brain Institute (Instituto do Cérebro), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Thiago Wendt Viola
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Brain Institute (Instituto do Cérebro), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Saulo Gantes Tractenberg
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Brain Institute (Instituto do Cérebro), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Fernando Benetti
- Laboratório de Neurofisiologia Cognitiva e do Desenvolvimento, Department of Physiology, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.,School of Medicine, Brain Institute (Instituto do Cérebro), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil
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31
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Brenhouse HC, Bath KG. Bundling the haystack to find the needle: Challenges and opportunities in modeling risk and resilience following early life stress. Front Neuroendocrinol 2019; 54:100768. [PMID: 31175880 PMCID: PMC6708473 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2019.100768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Various forms of early life adversity (ELA) have been linked with increased risk for negative health outcomes, including neuropsychiatric disorders. Understanding how the complex interplay between types, timing, duration, and severity of ELA, together with individual differences in genetic, socio-cultural, and physiological differences can mediate risk and resilience has proven difficult in population based studies. Use of animal models provides a powerful toolset to isolate key variables underlying risk for altered neural and behavioral maturational trajectories. However, a lack of clarity regarding the unique features of differing forms of adversity, lab differences in the implementation and reporting of methods, and the ability compare across labs and types of ELA has led to some confusion. Here, we highlight the diversity of approaches available, current challenges, and a possible ways forward to increase clarity and drive more meaningful and fruitful implementation and comparison of these approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather C Brenhouse
- Psychology Department, Northeastern University, 125 Nightingale Hall, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
| | - Kevin G Bath
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, 190 Thayer St. Box 1821, Providence, RI 02912, United States
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32
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Junod A, Opendak M, LeDoux JE, Sullivan RM. Development of Threat Expression Following Infant Maltreatment: Infant and Adult Enhancement but Adolescent Attenuation. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:130. [PMID: 31293397 PMCID: PMC6603125 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Early life maltreatment by the caregiver constitutes a major risk factor for the development of later-life psychopathologies, including fear-related pathologies. Here, we used an animal model of early life maltreatment induced by the Scarcity-Adversity Model of low bedding (LB) where the mother is given insufficient bedding for nest building while rat pups were postnatal days (PN) 8-12. To assess effects of maltreatment on the expression of threat-elicited defensive behaviors, animals underwent odor-shock threat conditioning at three developmental stages: late infancy (PN18), adolescence (PN45) or adulthood (>PN75) and tested the next day with odor only presentations (cue test). Results showed that in typically developing rats, the response to threat increases with maturation, although experience with maltreatment in early infancy produced enhanced responding to threat in infancy and adulthood, but a decrease in maltreated adolescents. To better understand the unique features of this decreased threat responding in adolescence, c-Fos expression was assessed within the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) associated with the cued expression of threat learning. Fos counts across amygdala subregions were lower in LB rats compared to controls, while enhanced c-Fos expression was observed in the vmPFC prelimbic cortex (PL). Correlational analysis between freezing behavior and Fos revealed freezing levels were correlated with CeA in controls, although more global correlations were detected in LB-reared rats, including the BA, LA, and CeA. Functional connectivity analysis between brain regions showed that LB reared rats exhibited more diffuse interconnectivity across amygdala subnuclei, compared the more heterogeneous patterns observed in controls. In addition, functional connectivity between the IL and LA switched from positive to negative in abused adolescents. Overall, these results suggest that in adolescence, the unique developmental decrease in fear expression following trauma is associated with distinct changes in regional function and long-range connectivity, reminiscent of pathological brain function. These results suggest that early life maltreatment from the caregiver perturbs the developmental trajectory of threat-elicited behavior. Indeed, it is possible that this form of trauma, where the infant's safety signal or "safe haven" (the caregiver) is actually the source of the threat, produces distinct outcomes across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouchka Junod
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Joseph E. LeDoux
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
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33
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Robinson-Drummer PA, Opendak M, Blomkvist A, Chan S, Tan S, Delmer C, Wood K, Sloan A, Jacobs L, Fine E, Chopra D, Sandler C, Kamenetzky G, Sullivan RM. Infant Trauma Alters Social Buffering of Threat Learning: Emerging Role of Prefrontal Cortex in Preadolescence. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:132. [PMID: 31293398 PMCID: PMC6598593 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Within the infant-caregiver attachment system, the primary caregiver holds potent reward value to the infant, exhibited by infants' strong preference for approach responses and proximity-seeking towards the mother. A less well-understood feature of the attachment figure is the caregiver's ability to reduce fear via social buffering, commonly associated with the notion of a "safe haven" in the developmental literature. Evidence suggests this infant system overlaps with the neural network supporting social buffering (attenuation) of fear in the adults of many species, a network known to involve the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, using odor-shock conditioning in young developing rats, we assessed when the infant system transitions to the adult-like PFC-dependent social buffering of threat system. Rat pups were odor-shock conditioned (0.55 mA-0.6 mA) at either postnatal day (PN18; dependent on mother) or 28 (newly independent, weaned at PN23). Within each age group, the mother was present or absent during conditioning, with PFC assessment following acquisition using 14C 2-DG autoradiography and cue testing the following day. Since the human literature suggests poor attachment attenuates the mother's ability to socially buffer the infants, half of the pups at each age were reared with an abusive mother from PN8-12. The results showed that for typical control rearing, the mother attenuated fear in both PN18 and PN28 pups, although the PFC [infralimbic (IL) and ventral prelimbic (vPL) cortices] was only engaged at PN28. Abuse rearing completely disrupted social buffering of pups by the mother at PN18. The results from PN28 pups showed that while the mother modulated learning in both control and abuse-reared pups, the behavioral and PFC effects were attenuated after maltreatment. Our data suggest that pups transition to the adult-like PFC social support circuit after independence from the mother (PN28), and this circuit remains functional after early-life trauma, although its effectiveness appears reduced. This is in sharp contrast to the effects of early life trauma during infancy, where social buffering of the infant is more robustly impacted. We suggest that the infant social buffering circuit is disengaged by early-life trauma, while the adolescent PFC-dependent social buffering circuit may use a safety signal with unreliable safety value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrese A. Robinson-Drummer
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Anna Blomkvist
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Stephanie Chan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Stephen Tan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Cecilia Delmer
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Kira Wood
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
| | - Aliza Sloan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States
| | - Lily Jacobs
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biology, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Eliana Fine
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biology, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Divija Chopra
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Chaim Sandler
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biology, Yeshiva University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Giselle Kamenetzky
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A Lanari, IDIM-CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Combatientes de Malvinas 3150 (CP 1427), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
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Neurobiology of maternal regulation of infant fear: the role of mesolimbic dopamine and its disruption by maltreatment. Neuropsychopharmacology 2019; 44:1247-1257. [PMID: 30758321 PMCID: PMC6784970 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0340-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Child development research highlights caregiver regulation of infant physiology and behavior as a key feature of early life attachment, although mechanisms for maternal control of infant neural circuits remain elusive. Here we explored the neurobiology of maternal regulation of infant fear using neural network and molecular levels of analysis in a rodent model. Previous research has shown maternal suppression of amygdala-dependent fear learning during a sensitive period. Here we characterize changes in neural networks engaged during maternal regulation and the transition to infant self-regulation. Metabolic mapping of 2-deoxyglucose uptake during odor-shock conditioning in postnatal day (PN)14 rat pups showed that maternal presence blocked fear learning, disengaged mesolimbic circuitry, basolateral amygdala (BLA), and plasticity-related AMPA receptor subunit trafficking. At PN18, when maternal presence only socially buffers threat learning (similar to social modulation in adults), maternal presence failed to disengage the mesolimbic dopaminergic system, and failed to disengage both the BLA and plasticity-related AMPA receptor subunit trafficking. Further, maternal presence failed to block threat learning at PN14 pups following abuse, and mesolimbic dopamine engagement and AMPA were not significantly altered by maternal presence-analogous to compromised maternal regulation of children in abusive relationships. Our results highlight three key features of maternal regulation: (1) maternal presence blocks fear learning and amygdala plasticity through age-dependent suppression of amygdala AMPA receptor subunit trafficking, (2) maternal presence suppresses engagement of brain regions within the mesolimbic dopamine circuit, and (3) early-life abuse compromises network and molecular biomarkers of maternal regulation, suggesting reduced social scaffolding of the brain.
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How Early Experience Shapes Human Development: The Case of Psychosocial Deprivation. Neural Plast 2019; 2019:1676285. [PMID: 30774652 PMCID: PMC6350537 DOI: 10.1155/2019/1676285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Experience plays an essential role in building brain architecture after birth. The question we address in this paper is what happens to brain and behavior when a young child is deprived of key experiences during critical periods of brain development. We focus in particular on the consequences of institutional rearing, with implication for the tens of millions of children around the world who from an early age experience profound psychosocial deprivation. Evidence is clear that deprivation can lead to a host of both short- and long-term consequences, including perturbations in brain structure and function, changes at cellular and molecular levels, and a plethora of psychological and behavioral impairments.
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Raber J, Arzy S, Bertolus JB, Depue B, Haas HE, Hofmann SG, Kangas M, Kensinger E, Lowry CA, Marusak HA, Minnier J, Mouly AM, Mühlberger A, Norrholm SD, Peltonen K, Pinna G, Rabinak C, Shiban Y, Soreq H, van der Kooij MA, Lowe L, Weingast LT, Yamashita P, Boutros SW. Current understanding of fear learning and memory in humans and animal models and the value of a linguistic approach for analyzing fear learning and memory in humans. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 105:136-177. [PMID: 30970272 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Revised: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Fear is an emotion that serves as a driving factor in how organisms move through the world. In this review, we discuss the current understandings of the subjective experience of fear and the related biological processes involved in fear learning and memory. We first provide an overview of fear learning and memory in humans and animal models, encompassing the neurocircuitry and molecular mechanisms, the influence of genetic and environmental factors, and how fear learning paradigms have contributed to treatments for fear-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder. Current treatments as well as novel strategies, such as targeting the perisynaptic environment and use of virtual reality, are addressed. We review research on the subjective experience of fear and the role of autobiographical memory in fear-related disorders. We also discuss the gaps in our understanding of fear learning and memory, and the degree of consensus in the field. Lastly, the development of linguistic tools for assessments and treatment of fear learning and memory disorders is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Raber
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA; Departments of Neurology and Radiation Medicine, and Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
| | - Shahar Arzy
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | | | - Brendan Depue
- Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
| | - Haley E Haas
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Stefan G Hofmann
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maria Kangas
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Christopher A Lowry
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Hilary A Marusak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Jessica Minnier
- School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Anne-Marie Mouly
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS-UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Andreas Mühlberger
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; PFH - Private University of Applied Sciences, Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Research), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Seth Davin Norrholm
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Kirsi Peltonen
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Graziano Pinna
- The Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Christine Rabinak
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
| | - Youssef Shiban
- Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; PFH - Private University of Applied Sciences, Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Research), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Hermona Soreq
- Department of Biological Chemistry, Edmond and Lily Safra Center of Brain Science and The Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Michael A van der Kooij
- Translational Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Universitatsmedizin der Johannes Guttenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Leah T Weingast
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Paula Yamashita
- School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Sydney Weber Boutros
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
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Kentner AC, Cryan JF, Brummelte S. Resilience priming: Translational models for understanding resiliency and adaptation to early life adversity. Dev Psychobiol 2019; 61:350-375. [PMID: 30311210 PMCID: PMC6447439 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Revised: 06/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Despite the increasing attention to early life adversity and its long-term consequences on health, behavior, and the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, our understanding of the adaptations and interventions that promote resiliency and rescue against such insults are underexplored. Specifically, investigations of the perinatal period often focus on negative events/outcomes. In contrast, positive experiences (i.e. enrichment/parental care//healthy nutrition) favorably influence development of the nervous and endocrine systems. Moreover, some stressors result in adaptations and demonstrations of later-life resiliency. This review explores the underlying mechanisms of neuroplasticity that follow some of these early life experiences and translates them into ideas for interventions in pediatric settings. The emerging role of the gut microbiome in mediating stress susceptibility is also discussed. Since many negative outcomes of early experiences are known, it is time to identify mechanisms and mediators that promote resiliency against them. These range from enrichment, quality parental care, dietary interventions and those that target the gut microbiota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda C. Kentner
- School of Arts & Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 179 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115,
| | - John F. Cryan
- Dept. Anatomy & Neuroscience & APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, College Rd., Cork, Ireland,
| | - Susanne Brummelte
- Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, 5057 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202,
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38
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Opendak M, Sullivan RM. Unique infant neurobiology produces distinctive trauma processing. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 36:100637. [PMID: 30889546 PMCID: PMC6969239 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Trauma experienced in early life has unique neurobehavioral outcomes related to later life psychiatric sequelae. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as critical, with trauma experienced within species-atypical aberrations in caregiving quality as particularly detrimental. Using data from primarily rodent models, we review the literature on the interaction between trauma and attachment in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver's presence in engagement of attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. Together these data suggest that infant trauma processing and its enduring effects are impacted by both the immaturity of brain areas for processing trauma and the unique functioning of the early-life brain, which is biased towards forming robust attachments regardless of the quality of care. Understanding the critical role of the caregiver in further altering early life brain processing of trauma is important for developing age-relevant treatment and interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA.
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Child Study Center, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA
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Callaghan B, Meyer H, Opendak M, Van Tieghem M, Harmon C, Li A, Lee FS, Sullivan RM, Tottenham N. Using a Developmental Ecology Framework to Align Fear Neurobiology Across Species. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2019; 15:345-369. [PMID: 30786246 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Children's development is largely dependent on caregiving; when caregiving is disrupted, children are at increased risk for numerous poor outcomes, in particular psychopathology. Therefore, determining how caregivers regulate children's affective neurobiology is essential for understanding psychopathology etiology and prevention. Much of the research on affective functioning uses fear learning to map maturation trajectories, with both rodent and human studies contributing knowledge. Nonetheless, as no standard framework exists through which to interpret developmental effects across species, research often remains siloed, thus contributing to the current therapeutic impasse. Here, we propose a developmental ecology framework that attempts to understand fear in the ecological context of the child: their relationship with their parent. By referring to developmental goals that are shared across species (to attach to, then, ultimately, separate from the parent), this framework provides a common grounding from which fear systems and their dysfunction can be understood, thus advancing research on psychopathologies and their treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bridget Callaghan
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; , , , .,Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne University, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Heidi Meyer
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA; , ,
| | - Maya Opendak
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University, Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; .,Nathan S. Klein Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA;
| | | | - Chelsea Harmon
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; , , ,
| | - Anfei Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA; , ,
| | - Francis S Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA; , ,
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University, Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA; .,Nathan S. Klein Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA;
| | - Nim Tottenham
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; , , ,
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40
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Bearer EL, Mulligan BS. Epigenetic Changes Associated with Early Life Experiences: Saliva, A Biospecimen for DNA Methylation Signatures. Curr Genomics 2018; 19:676-698. [PMID: 30532647 PMCID: PMC6225450 DOI: 10.2174/1389202919666180307150508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2017] [Revised: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 03/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which include traumatic injury, are associated with poor health outcomes in later life, yet the biological mechanisms mediating this association are unknown. Neurocircuitry, immune system and hormone regulation differ from normal in adults reporting ACEs. These systems could be affected by epigenetic changes, including methylation of cytosine (5mC) in genomic DNA, activated by ACEs. Since 5mC levels influence gene expression and can be long-lasting, altered 5mC status at specific sites or throughout the genome is hypothesized to influence mental and physical outcomes after ACE(s). Human and animal studies support this, with animal models allowing experiments for attributing causality. Here we provide a lengthy introduction and background on 5mC and the impact of early life adversity. OBJECTIVE Next we address the issue of a mixture of cell types in saliva, the most accessible biospecimen for 5mC analysis. Typical human bio-specimens for 5mC analysis include saliva or buccal swabs, whole blood or types of blood cells, tumors and post-mortem brain. In children saliva is the most accessible biospecimen, but contains a mixture of keratinocytes and white blood cells, as do buccal swabs. Even in saliva from the same individual at different time points, cell composition may differ widely. Similar issues affect analysis in blood, where nucleated cells represent a wide array of white blood cell types. Unless variations in ratios of these cells between each sample are included in the analysis, results can be unreliable. METHODS Several different biochemical assays are available to test for site-specific methylation levels genome-wide, each producing different information, with high-density arrays being the easiest to use, and bisulfite whole genome sequencing the most comprehensive. We compare results from different assays and use high-throughput computational processing to deconvolve cell composition in saliva samples. RESULTS Here we present examples demonstrating the critical importance of determining the relative contribution of blood cells versus keratinocytes to the 5mC profile found in saliva. We further describe a strategy to perform a reference-based computational correction for cell composition, and therefore to identify differential methylation patterns due to experience, or for the diagnosis of phenotypes that correlate between traits, such as hormone levels, trauma status and various mental health outcomes. CONCLUSION Specific sites that respond to adversity with altered methylation levels in either blood cells, keratinocytes or both can be identified by this rigorous approach, which will then be useful as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine L. Bearer
- Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Pathology MSC 08-4640, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA; Tel: 505-272-2404; Fax: 505-272-8084; E-mails: ;
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41
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Watamura SE, Roth TL. Looking back and moving forward: Evaluating and advancing translation from animal models to human studies of early life stress and DNA methylation. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 61:323-340. [PMID: 30426484 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Revised: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Advances in epigenetic methodologies have deepened theoretical explanations of mechanisms linking early life stress (ELS) and disease outcomes and suggest promising targets for intervention. To date, however, human studies have not capitalized on the richness of diverse animal models to derive and systematically evaluate specific and testable hypotheses. To promote cross-species dialog and scientific advance, here we provide a classification scheme to systematically evaluate the match between characteristics of human and animal studies of ELS and DNA methylation. Three preclinical models were selected that are highly cited, and that differ in the nature and severity of the ELS manipulation as well as in the affected epigenetic loci (the licking and grooming, maternal separation, and caregiver maltreatment models). We evaluated the degree to which human studies matched these preclinical models with respect to the timing of ELS and of DNA methylation assessment, as well as the type of ELS, whether sex differences were explicitly examined, the tissue sampled, and the targeted loci. Results revealed <50% match (range of 8-83%) between preclinical models and human work on these variables. Immediate and longer-term suggestions to improve translational specificity are offered, with the goal of accelerating scientific advance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tania L Roth
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
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42
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Santiago AN, Lim KY, Opendak M, Sullivan RM, Aoki C. Early life trauma increases threat response of peri-weaning rats, reduction of axo-somatic synapses formed by parvalbumin cells and perineuronal net in the basolateral nucleus of amygdala. J Comp Neurol 2018; 526:2647-2664. [PMID: 30136731 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Early life trauma is a risk factor for life-long disorders related to emotional processing, but knowledge underlying its enduring effect is incomplete. This study was motivated by the hypothesis that early life trauma increases amygdala-dependent threat responses via reduction in inhibition by parvalbumin (PV) interneurons and perineuronal nets (PNN) supporting PV cells, thus increasing excitability of the basolateral amygdala (BLA). From postnatal day (PN) 8-12, rat pups of both sexes were reared under normal bedding or under insufficient nest-building materials to induce maternal-to-infant maltreatment trauma (Scarcity-Adversity Model, SAM). At weaning age of PN23, the SAM group exhibited increased threat responses to predator odor. The SAM-induced increase in threat response was recapitulated in normally reared PN22-23 rats that were unilaterally depleted of PNN in the BLA by the enzymes, chondroitinase-ABC plus hyaluronidase at PN19-20. Light and electron microscopic analysis of the BLA revealed that anterior-to-mid levels of SAM group's BLAs exhibited decreased PNN intensity and decreased axo-somatic synapses between PV-to-principal pyramidal-like neurons and PV-to-PV. PV and PNN densities (cells/mm2 ) in the BLA of both control (CON) and SAM groups were still low at PN12 and SAM delayed the ontogenetic rise of PV intensity and PNN density. Moreover, PV cell density in the anterior-to-mid BLA correlated negatively with threat response of CON animals, but not for SAM animals. Thus, reduction of PNN-supported, PV-mediated somatic inhibition of pyramidal cells provides a mechanistic support for the enduring effect of early life maltreatment manifested as increasing innate threat response at weaning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne N Santiago
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York.,Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Kayla Y Lim
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
| | - Maya Opendak
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York
| | - Chiye Aoki
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
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43
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Aversive learning-induced plasticity throughout the adult mammalian olfactory system: insights across development. J Bioenerg Biomembr 2018; 51:15-27. [PMID: 30171506 DOI: 10.1007/s10863-018-9770-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Experiences, such as sensory learning, are known to induce plasticity in mammalian sensory systems. In recent years aversive olfactory learning-induced plasticity has been identified at all stages of the adult olfactory pathway; however, the underlying mechanisms have yet to be identified. Much of the work regarding mechanisms of olfactory associative learning comes from neonates, a time point before which the brain or olfactory system is fully developed. In addition, pups and adults often express different behavioral outcomes when subjected to the same olfactory aversive conditioning paradigm, making it difficult to directly attribute pup mechanisms of plasticity to adults. Despite the differences, there is evidence of similarities between pups and adults in terms of learning-induced changes in the olfactory system, suggesting at least some conserved mechanisms. Identifying these conserved mechanisms of plasticity would dramatically increase our understanding of how the brain is able to alter encoding and consolidation of salient olfactory information even at the earliest stages following aversive learning. The focus of this review is to systematically examine literature regarding olfactory associative learning across developmental stages and search for similarities in order to build testable hypotheses that will inform future studies of aversive learning-induced sensory plasticity in adults.
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Neurobiology of Infant Sensitive Period for Attachment and Its Reinstatement Through Maternal Social Buffering. MINNESOTA SYMPOSIA ON CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/9781119461746.ch2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Davis SM, Rice M, Rudlong J, Eaton V, King T, Burman MA. Neonatal pain and stress disrupts later-life pavlovian fear conditioning and sensory function in rats: Evidence for a two-hit model. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 60:520-533. [PMID: 29749116 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 03/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Early life trauma has been linked to increased risks for anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. We used rodent models of acute and inflammatory neonatal pain to explore effects on fear conditioning and somatosensory function. Hindpaw needle pricks or handling on postnatal days (PNDs) 1-7 caused lasting impacts on affective and somatosensory function when assessed at later ages, PNDs 24 (postweaning), 45 (adolescence), or 66 (adulthood). First, auditory, but not contextual, freezing was mildly disrupted regardless of age. Second, a profound postfear conditioning tactile hypersensitivity was observed in neonatally stressed, postweaning rats. In the absence of fear conditioning, the mechanical hypersensitivity was not observed, consistent with a two-hit model of psychopathology. Injections of 2% α-carrageenan did not have the same lasting impact but was slightly protective against observed effects of neonatal vehicle injections. Basal and elicited corticosterone levels postweaning were not altered by neonatal pain or handling. These data demonstrate that neonatal adversity can have lasting impacts on affective and somatosensory function that differs regardless of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth M Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
| | - Makaela Rice
- Department of Psychology, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
| | - Jacob Rudlong
- Department of Psychology, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
| | - Victoria Eaton
- Department of Psychology, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
| | - Tamara King
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine.,Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
| | - Michael A Burman
- Department of Psychology, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
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Kowalczyk AS, Davila RF, Trainor BC. Effects of social defeat on paternal behavior and pair bonding behavior in male California mice (Peromyscus californicus). Horm Behav 2018; 98:88-95. [PMID: 29289657 PMCID: PMC5828991 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Revised: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Male parental care is an important social behavior for several mammalian species. Psychosocial stress is usually found to inhibit maternal behavior, but effects on paternal behavior have been less consistent. We tested the effects of social defeat stress on pair bond formation and paternal behavior in the monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus). Social defeat reduced time spent in a chamber with a stranger female during a partner preference test conducted 24h after pairing, but increased latency to the first litter. In 10min partner preference tests conducted after the birth of pups, both control and stressed males exhibited selective aggression towards stranger females. Unlike prairie voles, side by side contact was not observed in either partner preference test. Stressed male California mice engaged in more paternal behavior than controls and had reduced anxiety-like responses in the open-field test. Defeat stress enhanced prodynorphin and KOR expression in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) but not PVN. Increased KOR signaling has been linked to increased selective aggression in prairie voles. Together the results show that defeat stress enhances behaviors related to parental care and pair bonding in male California mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex S Kowalczyk
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States
| | - Randy F Davila
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States
| | - Brian C Trainor
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States.
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Boulanger-Bertolus J, Rincón-Cortés M, Sullivan RM, Mouly AM. Understanding pup affective state through ethologically significant ultrasonic vocalization frequency. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13483. [PMID: 29044126 PMCID: PMC5647438 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13518-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Throughout life, rats emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) when confronted with an aversive situation. However, the conditions classically used to elicit USV vary greatly with the animal's age (isolation from the dam in infancy, versus nociceptive stimulation in adults). The present study is the first to characterize USV responses to the same aversive event throughout development. Specifically, infant, juvenile and adult rats were presented with mild foot-shocks and their USV frequency, duration, and relationship with respiration and behavior were compared. In juvenile and adult rats, a single class of USV is observed with an age-dependent main frequency and duration (30 kHz/400 ms in juveniles, 22 kHz/900 ms in adults). In contrast, infant rat USV were split into two classes with specific relationships with respiration and behavior: 40 kHz/300 ms and 66 kHz/21 ms. Next, we questioned if these infant USV were also emitted in a more naturalistic context by exposing pups to interactions with the mother treating them roughly. This treatment enhanced 40-kHz USV while leaving 66-kHz USV unchanged suggesting that the use of USV goes far beyond a signal studied in terms of amount of emission, and can inform us about some aspects of the infant's affective state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Boulanger-Bertolus
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028; CNRS UMR5292; University Lyon1, Lyon, France.
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
| | - Millie Rincón-Cortés
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anne-Marie Mouly
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028; CNRS UMR5292; University Lyon1, Lyon, France
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Doherty TS, Blaze J, Keller SM, Roth TL. Phenotypic outcomes in adolescence and adulthood in the scarcity-adversity model of low nesting resources outside the home cage. Dev Psychobiol 2017; 59:703-714. [PMID: 28767135 PMCID: PMC5569321 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Early life adversity is known to disrupt behavioral trajectories and many rodent models have been developed to characterize these stress-induced outcomes. One example is the scarcity-adversity model of low nesting resources. This model employs resource scarcity (i.e., low nesting materials) to elicit adverse caregiving conditions (including maltreatment) toward rodent neonates. Our lab utilizes a version of this model wherein caregiving exposures occur outside the home cage during the first postnatal week. The aim of this study was to determine adolescent and adult phenotypic outcomes associated with this model, including assessment of depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors and performance in different cognitive domains. Exposure to adverse caregiving had no effect on adolescent behavioral performance whereas exposure significantly impaired adult behavioral performance. Further, adult behavioral assays revealed substantial differences between sexes. Overall, data demonstrate the ability of repeated exposure to brief bouts of maltreatment outside the home cage in infancy to impact the development of several behavioral domains later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany S. Doherty
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware,
Newark DE 19716
| | | | | | - Tania L. Roth
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware,
Newark DE 19716
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Walker CD, Bath KG, Joels M, Korosi A, Larauche M, Lucassen PJ, Morris MJ, Raineki C, Roth TL, Sullivan RM, Taché Y, Baram TZ. Chronic early life stress induced by limited bedding and nesting (LBN) material in rodents: critical considerations of methodology, outcomes and translational potential. Stress 2017; 20:421-448. [PMID: 28617197 PMCID: PMC5705407 DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2017.1343296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 222] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 06/09/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The immediate and long-term effects of exposure to early life stress (ELS) have been documented in humans and animal models. Even relatively brief periods of stress during the first 10 days of life in rodents can impact later behavioral regulation and the vulnerability to develop adult pathologies, in particular an impairment of cognitive functions and neurogenesis, but also modified social, emotional, and conditioned fear responses. The development of preclinical models of ELS exposure allows the examination of mechanisms and testing of therapeutic approaches that are not possible in humans. Here, we describe limited bedding and nesting (LBN) procedures, with models that produce altered maternal behavior ranging from fragmentation of care to maltreatment of infants. The purpose of this paper is to discuss important issues related to the implementation of this chronic ELS procedure and to describe some of the most prominent endpoints and consequences, focusing on areas of convergence between laboratories. Effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, gut axis and metabolism are presented in addition to changes in cognitive and emotional functions. Interestingly, recent data have suggested a strong sex difference in some of the reported consequences of the LBN paradigm, with females being more resilient in general than males. As both the chronic and intermittent variants of the LBN procedure have profound consequences on the offspring with minimal external intervention from the investigator, this model is advantageous ecologically and has a large translational potential. In addition to the direct effect of ELS on neurodevelopmental outcomes, exposure to adverse early environments can also have intergenerational impacts on mental health and function in subsequent generation offspring. Thus, advancing our understanding of the effect of ELS on brain and behavioral development is of critical concern for the health and wellbeing of both the current population, and for generations to come.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire-Dominique Walker
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, 6875 Lasalle Blvd, Montreal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Kevin G. Bath
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, 185 Meeting Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Marian Joels
- Department Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Aniko Korosi
- Brain Plasticity group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Muriel Larauche
- G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA
| | - Paul J. Lucassen
- Brain Plasticity group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Margaret J. Morris
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney 2052, NSW, Australia
| | - Charlis Raineki
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical School, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Tania L. Roth
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - Regina M. Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical School, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Yvette Taché
- G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, USA
| | - Tallie Z. Baram
- Department of Pediatrics, of Anatomy & Neurobiology and of Neurology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
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Debiec J, Sullivan RM. The neurobiology of safety and threat learning in infancy. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2017; 143:49-58. [PMID: 27826033 PMCID: PMC5418109 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Revised: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 10/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
What an animal needs to learn to survive is altered dramatically as they change from dependence on the parent for protection to independence and reliance on self-defense. This transition occurs in most altricial animals, but our understanding of the behavioral neurobiology has mostly relied on the infant rat. The transformation from dependence to independence occurs over three weeks in pups and is accompanied by complex changes in responses to both natural and learned threats and the supporting neural circuitry. Overall, in early life, the threat system is quiescent and learning is biased towards acquiring attachment related behaviors to support attachment to the caregiver and proximity seeking. Caregiver-associated cues learned in infancy have the ability to provide a sense of safety throughout lifetime. This attachment/safety system is activated by learning involving presumably pleasurable stimuli (food, warmth) but also painful stimuli (tailpinch, moderate shock). At about the midway point to independence, pups begin to have access to the adult-like amygdala-dependent threat system and amygdala-dependent responses to natural dangers such as predator odors. However, pups have the ability to switch between the infant and adult-like system, which is controlled by maternal presence and modification of stress hormones. Specifically, if the pup is alone, it will learn fear but if with the mother it will learn attachment (10-15days of age). As pups begin to approach weaning, pups lose access to the attachment system and rely only on the amygdala-dependent threat system. However, pups learning system is complex and exhibits flexibility that enables the mother to override the control of the attachment circuit, since newborn pups may acquire threat responses from the mother expressing fear in their presence. Together, these data suggest that the development of pups' threat learning system is not only dependent upon maturation of the amygdala, but it is also exquisitely controlled by the environment. Most notably the mother can switch pup learning between attachment to threat learning in a moment's notice. This enables the mother to navigate pup's learning about the world and what is threatening and what is safe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacek Debiec
- Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
| | - Regina M Sullivan
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, United States.
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