title: Variations in maternal care in infancy regulate the development of stress reactivity.
abstract: Naturally occurring variations in maternal care in early postnatal life are associated with the development of individual differences in behavioral and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to stress in the rat. These effects appear to be mediated by the influence of maternal licking/grooming on the development of central systems that serve to activate (corticotropin-releasing factor) or inhibit (gamma-aminobutyric acid) the expression of behavioral and endocrine responses to stress through effects on forebrain noradrenergic systems. Importantly, individual differences in maternal care are transmitted from mother to daughter, providing a mechanism for the behavioral transmission of individual differences in stress reactivity across generations.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neuroendocrinology Laboratory, Douglas Hospital Research Center, McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caldji
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diorio
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Meaney
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006120:Grooming; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000378:metabolism; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010641:Phenotype; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone