title: Maternal programming of individual differences in defensive responses in the rat.
abstract: This paper describes the results of a series of studies showing that variations in mother-pup interactions program the development of individual differences in behavioral and endocrine stress responses in the rat. These effects are associated with altered expression of genes in brain regions, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, that regulate the expression of stress responses. Studies from evolutionary biology suggest that such "maternal effects" are common and often associated with variations in the quality of the maternal environment. Together these findings suggest an epigenetic process whereby the experience of the mother alters the nature of the parent-offspring interactions and thus the phenotype of the offspring.
authors.affiliation: McGill Program for the Study of Behavior, Genes and Environment, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 6875 boul. LaSalle, Montréal (Québec), Canada H4H 1R3.
authors.forename: Tie-Yuan
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parent
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Meaney
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010641:Phenotype; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology