Maternal programming of defensive responses through sustained effects on gene expression
Abstract
There are profound maternal effects on individual differences in defensive responses and reproductive strategies in species ranging literally from plants to insects to birds. Maternal effects commonly reflect the quality of the environment and are most likely mediated by the quality of the maternal provision (egg, propagule, etc.), which in turn determines growth rates and adult phenotype. In this paper we review data from the rat that suggest comparable forms of maternal effects on defensive responses stress, which are mediated by the effects of variations in maternal behavior on gene expression. Under conditions of environmental adversity maternal effects enhance the capacity for defensive responses in the offspring. In mammals, these effects appear to 'program' emotional, cognitive and endocrine systems towards increased sensitivity to adversity. In environments with an increased level of adversity, such effects can be considered adaptive, enhancing the probability of offspring survival to sexual maturity; the cost is that of an increased risk for multiple forms of pathology in later life.
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Female Long-Evans rats differ significantly in how frequently they lick/groom their pups, which is a stable feature of the maternal phenotype.
“Female Long-Evans rats differ significantly in how frequently they lick/groom (LG) their pups, which is a stable feature of the maternal phenotype.”
From Epigenetic regulation in major depression and other stress-related disorders: molecular mechanisms, clinical relevance and therapeutic potential (2023) · cites this paper as [72]
Variations in pup LG over the first week of postnatal life affect the development of behavioral and HPA responses to stress in adulthood.
“We and other labs find that variations in pup LG over the first week of postnatal life rat affect the development of behavioral and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responses to stress in adulthood.66-75”
From Early life adversity and the epigenetic programming of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function (2014) · cites this paper as [72]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Zhang, T.-Y., Bagot, R., Parent, C., Nesbitt, C., Bredy, T. W., Caldji, C., Fish, E., Anisman, H., Szyf, M., & Meaney, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
- Carleton University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Meaney, Michael J.
- Venue
- Biological Psychology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-07
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 72-89
- ISSN
- 0301-0511 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2023287196
- Cited by
- 206
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 6.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biological Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- maternal effects, defensive behavior, stress, gene expression, maternal behavior, environmental adversity, developmental programming, rats, emotional systems, endocrine system, cognitive systems, individual differences, reproductive strategies
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Animals, Arousal, Brain, Cognition, Emotions, Fear, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Individuality, Maternal Behavior, Phenotype, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Pregnancy, Receptors, Glucocorticoid, Social Environment, Species Specificity, Neurolinguistic Programming, Mice, Rats
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