We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Neonatal Novelty-Induced Persistent Enhancement in Offspring Spatial Memory and the Modulatory Role of Maternal Self-Stress Regulation.
- Authors
Tang, Akaysha C.; Reeb-Sutherland, Bethany C.; Zhen Yang; Romeo, Russell D.; McEwen, Bruce S.
- Abstract
Development of spatial memory in the rat is influenced by both maternal and nonmaternal aspects of the postnatal environment. Yet it remains poorly understood how these two aspects of the postnatal environment interact to program offspring cognitive development. By considering the joint influence of neonatal environmental novelty and maternal self-stress regulation on the development of spatial memory function in Long-Evans hooded rats, we show a persistent neonatal novelty-induced enhancement in spatial reference and working memory functions among the same individual offspring from juvenility to adulthood and a contrasting transient maternal modulatory influence on this novelty-related enhancement present during only juvenility. Specifically, at and only at juvenility, for mothers with good self-stress regulation as indexed by a low circulating basal corticosterone level, offspring showed a novelty-induced enhancement in spatial memory function, whereas for mothers with poor self-stress regulation, indexed by a high basal corticosterone level, offspring showed little enhancement or even small impairments. These findings indicate that maternal and nonmaternal postnatal environments exert separate but interacting influences on offspring cognitive development and support a maternal modulation model of cognitive development that considers maternal self-stress regulation as an important factor among the multitude of maternal influences.
- Subjects
MEMORY in infants; COGNITIVE development; MOTHER-child relationship; PSYCHOLOGICAL stress; CORTICOSTERONE; LABORATORY mice
- Publication
Journal of Neuroscience, 2011, Vol 31, Issue 14, p5348
- ISSN
0270-6474
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6808-10.2011