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Lambert KG, Byrnes EM. Challenges to the parental brain: Neuroethological and translational considerations. Front Neuroendocrinol 2019; 53:100747. [PMID: 31004617 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2019.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2018] [Revised: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Extending from research documenting adaptive parental responses in nonthreatening contexts, the influences of various neuroethological and physiological challenges on effective parenting responses are considered in the current review. In natural habitats, rodent family units are exposed to predators, compromised resources, and other environmental stressors that disrupt HPA axis functions. With the additional physiological demands associated with caring for offspring, alterations in stress-related neuroendocrine responsiveness contribute to adaptive responses in many challenging contexts. Some environmental contexts, however, such as restricted nesting resources, result in disrupted maternal responses that have a negative impact on offspring wellbeing. Additionally, parental dysregulation associated with exposure to environmental chemicals or pharmacological substances, also compromise maternal responses with effects that often extend to future generations. Continued preclinical and clinical research elucidating parental responses to various stressors and physiological disruptors is necessary to provide valuable translational information identifying threats to effective parenting outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly G Lambert
- Department of Psychology, University of Richmond, VA 23173, United States.
| | - Elizabeth M Byrnes
- Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, N. Grafton, MA 01536, United States
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2
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Brancato A, Cannizzaro C. Mothering under the influence: how perinatal drugs of abuse alter the mother-infant interaction. Rev Neurosci 2018; 29:283-294. [PMID: 29194045 DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2017-0052] [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: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 09/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Although drug-abusing women try to moderate their drug and alcohol use during pregnancy, they often relapse at a time when childcare needs are high and maternal bonding is critical to an infant's development. In the clinical setting, the search for the neural basis of drug-induced caregiving deficits is complex due to several intervening variables. Rather, the preclinical studies that control for drug dose and regimen, as well as for gestational and postpartum environment, allow a precise determination of the effects of drugs on maternal behaviour. Given the relevance of the issue, this review will gather reports on the phenotypic correlates of maternal behaviour in preclinical studies, and focus on the detrimental consequences on the mother-infant interaction exerted by the perinatal use of alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine and stimulants and opiates. The drug-induced disruptions of this maternal repertoire are associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes. A comprehensive overview will help promote the refinement of the treatment approaches toward maternal drug use disorders and maternal misbehaviour, in favour of augmented parenting resiliency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Brancato
- Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother and Child Care 'G. D'Alessandro', University of Palermo, via del Vespro 129, I-90127 Palermo, Italy
| | - Carla Cannizzaro
- Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother and Child Care 'G. D'Alessandro', University of Palermo, via del Vespro 129, I-90127 Palermo, Italy
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3
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Zucker I. Psychoactive drug exposure during breastfeeding: a critical need for preclinical behavioral testing. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2018; 235:1335-1346. [PMID: 29549392 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-018-4873-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Breastfeeding women are excluded from clinical trials of psychoactive drugs because of ethical concerns. Animal testing, which often is predictive of adverse effects in humans, represents the only avenue available for assessing drug safety for human offspring exposed to drugs during lactation. I determined whether behavioral outcomes for children exposed during breastfeeding to antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, anti-seizure medications, analgesics, sedatives, and marijuana can be predicted by rodent studies of offspring exposed to drugs during lactation. Animal data were available for only 10 of 80 CNS-active drugs canvassed. Behavioral deficits in adolescence or adulthood in rats and mice after various drug exposures during lactation included reductions in sexual behavior, increased anxiety, hyperactivity, and impaired learning and memory. Whether similar adverse effects will emerge in adulthood in children exposed to drugs during breastfeeding is unknown. Rodent research has the potential to forecast impairments in breastfed children long before information emerges from post-marketing reports and should be prioritized during preclinical drug evaluation by the FDA for new drugs and for drugs currently prescribed off-label for lactating women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irving Zucker
- Departments of Psychology and Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. .,Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
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4
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Shnitko TA, Mace KD, Sullivan KM, Martin WK, Andersen EH, Williams Avram SK, Johns JM, Robinson DL. Use of fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to assess phasic dopamine release in rat models of early postpartum maternal behavior and neglect. Behav Pharmacol 2017; 28:648-660. [PMID: 29068793 PMCID: PMC5680131 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Maternal behavior (MB) is a complex response to infant cues, orchestrated by postpartum neurophysiology. Although mesolimbic dopamine contributes toward MB, little is known about real-time dopamine fluctuations during the postpartum period. Thus, we used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure individual dopamine transients in the nucleus accumbens of early postpartum rats and compared them with dopamine transients in virgins and in postpartum females exposed to cocaine during pregnancy, which is known to disrupt MB. We hypothesized that dopamine transients are normally enhanced postpartum and support MB. In anesthetized rats, electrically evoked dopamine release was larger and clearance was faster in postpartum females than in virgins and gestational cocaine exposure blocked the change in clearance. In awake rats, control mothers showed more dopamine transients than cocaine-exposed mothers during MB. Salient pup-produced stimuli may contribute toward differences in maternal phasic dopamine by evoking dopamine transients; supporting the feasibility of this hypothesis, urine composition (glucose, ketones, and leukocytes) differed between unexposed and cocaine-exposed infants. These data, resulting from the novel application of fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to models of MB, support the hypothesis that phasic dopamine signaling is enhanced postpartum. Future studies with additional controls can delineate which aspects of gestational cocaine reduce dopamine clearance and transient frequency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana A. Shnitko
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kyla D. Mace
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kaitlin M. Sullivan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - W. Kyle Martin
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | | | | - Josephine M. Johns
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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5
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Kim S, Iyengar U, Mayes LC, Potenza MN, Rutherford HJV, Strathearn L. Mothers with substance addictions show reduced reward responses when viewing their own infant's face. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:5421-5439. [PMID: 28746733 PMCID: PMC5763911 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2016] [Revised: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal addiction constitutes a major public health problem affecting children, with high rates of abuse, neglect, and foster care placement. However, little is known about the ways in which substance addiction alters brain function related to maternal behavior. Prior studies have shown that infant face cues activate similar dopamine-associated brain reward regions to substances of abuse. Here, we report on a functional MRI study documenting that mothers with addictions demonstrate reduced activation of reward regions when shown reward-related cues of their own infants. Thirty-six mothers receiving inpatient treatment for substance addiction were scanned at 6 months postpartum, while viewing happy and sad face images of their own infant compared to those of a matched unknown infant. When viewing happy face images of their own infant, mothers with addictions showed a striking pattern of decreased activation in dopamine- and oxytocin-innervated brain regions, including the hypothalamus, ventral striatum, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex-regions in which increased activation has previously been observed in mothers without addictions. Our results are the first to demonstrate that mothers with addictions show reduced activation in key reward regions of the brain in response to their own infant's face cues. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5421-5439, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sohye Kim
- Department of Obstetrics and GynecologyBaylor College of MedicineHoustonTexasUnited States
- Department of Pediatrics and Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesBaylor College of MedicineHoustonTexasUnited States
- Center for Reproductive Psychiatry, Pavilion for Women, Texas Children's HospitalHoustonTexasUnited States
| | - Udita Iyengar
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Linda C. Mayes
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of MedicineNew HavenConnecticutUnited States
| | - Marc N. Potenza
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of MedicineNew HavenConnecticutUnited States
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASAColumbia)Yale University School of MedicineNew HavenConnecticutUnited States
- Connecticut Mental Health CenterNew HavenConnecticutUnited States
| | - Helena J. V. Rutherford
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of MedicineNew HavenConnecticutUnited States
| | - Lane Strathearn
- Department of Pediatrics and Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral SciencesBaylor College of MedicineHoustonTexasUnited States
- Stead Family Department of PediatricsUniversity of Iowa Carver College of MedicineIowa CityIowaUnited States
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6
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Cocaína durante la gestación y conducta materna postparto en ratones. ACTA COLOMBIANA DE PSICOLOGIA 2017. [DOI: 10.14718/acp.2017.20.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
El abuso materno de cocaína durante la gestación se relaciona con negligencia, maltrato y perturbación del vínculo madre- hijo, lo que incide directamente en el desarrollo de los infantes; por esto, las diversas problemáticas neuroconductuales de los hijos de padres drogodependientes podrían atribuirse a la inadecuada conducta materna o a la exposición prenatal a la droga. El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar los efectos de la administración crónica de cocaína durante la gestación en la conducta materna postparto de ratones. Para esto se asignaron aleatoriamente 21 ratones CD1 hembras gestantes para la administración de solución salina y cocaína (25 mg/kg/día y 50 mg/kg/día), desde el octavo hasta el día veintiuno de gestación. Después del parto, durante 20 días (15 minutos diarios), se registró individualmente la frecuencia de presentación de 16 índices de conducta materna mediante un etograma. Se encontró que la cocaína afectó levemente la frecuencia de la conducta materna, aunque posiblemente afecte otros parámetros como la latencia, duración y secuencia de esta conducta.
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Parolin M, Simonelli A. Attachment Theory and Maternal Drug Addiction: The Contribution to Parenting Interventions. Front Psychiatry 2016; 7:152. [PMID: 27625612 PMCID: PMC5004230 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2016] [Accepted: 08/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Children's emotional and relational development can be negatively influenced by maternal substance abuse, particularly through a dysfunctional caregiving environment. Attachment Theory offers a privileged framework to analyze how drug addiction can affect the quality of adult attachment style, parenting attitudes and behaviors toward the child, and how it can have a detrimental effect on the co-construction of the attachment bond by the mother and the infant. Several studies, as a matter of fact, have identified a prevalence of insecure patterns among drug-abusing mothers and their children. Many interventions for mothers with Substance Use Disorders have focused on enhancing parental skills, but they have often overlooked the emotional and relational features of the mother-infant bond. Instead, in recent years, a number of protocols have been developed in order to strengthen the relationship between drug-abusing mothers and their children, drawing lessons from Attachment Theory. The present study reviews the literature on the adult and infant attachment style in the context of drug addiction, describing currently available treatment programs that address parenting and specifically focus on the mother-infant bond, relying on Attachment Theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Micol Parolin
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Alessandra Simonelli
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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8
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Blanco-Gandía MC, Mateos-García A, García-Pardo MP, Montagud-Romero S, Rodríguez-Arias M, Miñarro J, Aguilar MA. Effect of drugs of abuse on social behaviour. Behav Pharmacol 2015. [DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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9
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Lippard ETC, Jarrett TM, McMurray MS, Zeskind PS, Garber KA, Zoghby CR, Glaze K, Tate W, Johns JM. Early postpartum pup preference is altered by gestational cocaine treatment: associations with infant cues and oxytocin expression in the MPOA. Behav Brain Res 2015; 278:176-85. [PMID: 25300467 PMCID: PMC4382406 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.09.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2014] [Revised: 08/28/2014] [Accepted: 09/27/2014] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Cross-fostering studies suggest cocaine-induced deficits in maternal behavior could be associated with altered behavior of offspring following prenatal cocaine-exposure. Neonatal vocalizations are an important offspring cue facilitating early interactions between dam and rodent pup offspring and have been shown to be altered following prenatal cocaine-exposure. It is unclear how variations in acoustic parameters of USVs impact maternal behavior and the mechanism(s) underlying these processes. The present study examined differences in cocaine-exposed and control rodent dam maternal preference of cocaine-exposed or untreated pups in a dual choice apparatus. Relationship of preference-like behavior with pup USVs and dam oxytocin expression was explored. Gestational cocaine-exposure interfered with preference-like behavior of dams on postpartum day 1 with cocaine-exposure associated with decreased time spent on the cocaine-exposed pup side compared to the control pup side, and decreases in preference-like behavior associated in part with decreased number of USVs being emitted by cocaine-exposed pups. On postpartum day 5, decreased oxytocin expression in the medial preoptic area was associated with altered preference-like behavior in cocaine-exposed dams, including frequency and latency to touch/sniff pups. Results indicate cocaine's effects on the mother-infant relationship is likely synergistic, in that cocaine influences mother and offspring both independently and concertedly and that variations within pup vocalizations and the oxytocin system may be potential mechanism(s) underlying this synergistic relationship during the postpartum period.
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Affiliation(s)
- E T Cox Lippard
- University of North Carolina, Curriculum in Neurobiology, United States; University of North Carolina, Department of Psychiatry, United States
| | - T M Jarrett
- University of North Carolina, Curriculum in Neurobiology, United States; University of North Carolina, Department of Psychiatry, United States; University of North Carolina, MD-PhD Program, United States
| | - M S McMurray
- University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Psychology, United States
| | - P S Zeskind
- Levine Children's Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, United States
| | - K A Garber
- Levine Children's Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, United States
| | - C R Zoghby
- University of North Carolina, Department of Psychiatry, United States
| | - K Glaze
- University of North Carolina, Department of Psychology, United States
| | - W Tate
- University of North Carolina, Department of Psychology, United States
| | - J M Johns
- University of North Carolina, Curriculum in Neurobiology, United States; University of North Carolina, Department of Psychiatry, United States; University of North Carolina, Department of Psychology, United States.
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10
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Zeskind PS, McMurray MS, Cox Lippard ET, Grewen KM, Garber KA, Johns JM. Translational analysis of effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on human infant cries and rat pup ultrasonic vocalizations. PLoS One 2014; 9:e110349. [PMID: 25338015 PMCID: PMC4206414 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2014] [Accepted: 09/12/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Spectral and temporal features of human infant crying may detect neurobehavioral effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE). Finding comparable measures of rodent ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) would promote translational analyses by controlling the effects of correlated variables that confound human studies. To this end, two studies examined the sensitivity of similar acoustic structures in human infant and rat pup vocalizations to effects of PCE. In Study 1, cry sounds of 107 one month-old infants were spectrum analyzed to create a novel set of measures and to detect the presence of hyperphonation - a qualitative shift to an atypically high fundamental frequency (basic pitch) associated with neurobehavioral insult. Infants with PCE were compared to infants with prenatal polydrug-exposure (PPE) without cocaine and with infants in a standard comparison (SC) group with no prenatal drug exposure. In Study 2, USVs of 118 five day-old rat pups with either PCE, prenatal saline exposure or no prenatal exposures were spectrum analyzed to detect the presence of frequency shifts - acoustic features that have a frequency waveform similar to that of hyperphonation. Results of study 1 showed PCE had two sets of sex-dependent effects on human infants: PCE males had higher pitched cries with more dysphonation (turbulence); PCE females had longer pauses between fewer cry sounds that were of lower amplitude than comparison groups. PCE and PPE infants had more cries with hyperphonation than SC infants. In study 2, PCE pups had a greater percentage of USVs with shift in the acoustic structure than pups in the two control groups. As such, the novel measures of human infant crying and rat pup USVs were sensitive to effects of PCE. These studies provide the first known translational analysis of similar acoustic structures of vocalizations in two species to detect adverse effects of prenatal drug exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Sanford Zeskind
- Department of Pediatrics, Carolina Healthcare System's Levine Children's Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Matthew S. McMurray
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | | | - Karen M. Grewen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Kristin A. Garber
- Department of Pediatrics, Carolina Healthcare System's Levine Children's Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Josephine M. Johns
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
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11
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Wang J, Tai F, Lai X. Cocaine withdrawal influences paternal behavior and associated central expression of vasopressin, oxytocin and tyrosine hydroxylase in mandarin voles. Neuropeptides 2014; 48:29-35. [PMID: 24238615 DOI: 10.1016/j.npep.2013.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2013] [Revised: 10/02/2013] [Accepted: 10/20/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Although the disruptive effects of cocaine on the maternal care are well known, little is known about paternal care in the context of cocaine abuse. Vasopressin (AVP), oxytocin (OT) and dopamine (DA) have been found to regulate paternal behavior and are also involved in cocaine abuse. Mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus) are socially monogamous and display high levels of paternal care. Here, we investigated whether paternal behavior and associated central levels of AVP, OT and DA were altered following 24 h of withdrawal from 4 day administration of 20 mg/kg/day cocaine. Our data shows that vole fathers did not experience altered levels of locomotion during an open field test. However, compared to controls, cocaine attenuated licking/grooming and contact behavior and shortened the latency to crouching, contact and pup retrieval. Last, fewer AVP and OT immunoreactive neurons in the paraventricular nucleus and more tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons in the ventral tegmental area were observed in cocaine-treated fathers. These results indicate that cocaine withdrawal disturbs the expression of partial paternal behavior by altering central levels of AVP, OT and DA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianli Wang
- College of Biology Sciences and Engineering, Beifang University of Nationalities, Yinchuan, Ningxia 750021, China.
| | - Fadao Tai
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian, Shaanxi 710062, China
| | - Xiangjun Lai
- College of Biology Sciences and Engineering, Beifang University of Nationalities, Yinchuan, Ningxia 750021, China; College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian, Shaanxi 710062, China
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12
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Williams SK, Johns JM. Prenatal and gestational cocaine exposure: Effects on the oxytocin system and social behavior with implications for addiction. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2013; 119:10-21. [PMID: 23880214 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2013.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2013] [Revised: 07/02/2013] [Accepted: 07/08/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Drug abuse during pregnancy is a major public health concern, with negative consequences throughout development. Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) in rats produces social behavior deficits with corresponding changes in neuroendocrine and monoaminergic signaling. The relevance of parental care in social behavior maturity cannot be ignored, and gestational exposure to cocaine severely disrupts parental care, thus impacting the early environment of the offspring. Oxytocin (Oxt) is critical in regulating social behaviors and central levels are disrupted following acute and chronic cocaine (CC) treatment in postpartum rat dams, coincident with deficits in maternal care. We will discuss studies aimed to determine the relative contribution of PCE and CC-induced deficits in maternal care to social behaviors and Oxt signaling across development. PCE results in decreased social (including parental) behaviors in adolescence and adulthood. PCE is also associated with increased aggression in adults. Rearing by CC-exposed mothers synergistically increases the behavioral effects of PCE. Rearing by CC-exposed mothers, but not PCE, disrupts Oxt levels and mRNA in regions relevant to social behavior, but does not affect receptors in postpartum adult offspring. Preliminary work indicates that PCE/CC rearing has dynamic effects on Oxt levels and receptors in neonatal rat pups, suggesting very early regulation of Oxt signaling. This work highlights how the interactive role of Oxt signaling and behavioral context throughout development can be derailed by drug abuse during pregnancy. The relevance of disrupted Oxt to intergenerational transmission of addiction is briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- S K Williams
- Section on Neural Gene Expression, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
| | - J M Johns
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States; Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States; Curriculum of Neurobiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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