Litter environment affects behavior and brain metabolic activity of adult knockout mice.
In mammals, the formative environment for social and anxiety-related behaviors is the family unit; in the case of rodents, this is the litter and the mother-young bond. A deciding factor in this environment is the sex ratio of the litter and, in the case of mice lacking functional copies of gene(s), the ratio of the various genotypes in the litter. Both Sex and Genotype ratios of the litter affect the nature and quality of the individual's behavior later in adulthood, as well as metabolic activity in brain nuclei that underlie these behaviors. Mice were raised in litters reconstituted shortly after to birth to control for sex ratio and genotype ratio (wild type pups versus pups lacking a functional estrogen receptor alpha). In both males and females, the Sex and Genotype of siblings in the litter affected aggressive behaviors as well as patterns of metabolic activity in limbic nuclei in the social behavior network later in adulthood. Further, this pattern in males varied depending upon the Genotype of their brothers and sisters. Principal Components Analysis revealed two components comprised of several amygdalar and hypothalamic nuclei; the VMH showed strong correlations in both clusters, suggesting its pivotal nature in the organization of two neural networks.
Crews
David
D
Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712, USA. crews@mail.utexas.edu
Rushworth
David
D
Gonzalez-Lima
Francisco
F
Ogawa
Sonoko
S
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2002 Aug;73(1):61-75
12076725
Front Neuroendocrinol. 2008 Jun;29(3):344-57
18358518
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2001;24:1161-92
11520931
Endocrinology. 2003 Jan;144(1):230-9
12488349
Brain Res. 2002 May 17;936(1-2):27-37
11988227
Anim Biol Leiden Neth. 2005;55(4):343-370
16501662
J Cell Biochem. 2006 Mar 1;97(4):673-83
16329141
Endocrinology. 1998 Dec;139(12):5058-69
9832445
Dev Psychobiol. 1997 May;30(4):301-12
9142506
Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2005 Feb;48(1):1-15
15708625
Neuroendocrinology. 1996 Dec;64(6):467-70
8990081
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Apr 3;104(14):5942-6
17389367
Physiol Behav. 1997 Apr;61(4):513-9
9108569
Brain Behav Evol. 2000 Mar;55(3):139-51
10899708
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1999 Jun 29;877:242-57
10415653
Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2004 Oct;229(9):935-9
15388889
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Feb 18;94(4):1476-81
9037078
Hum Brain Mapp. 2007 Sep;28(9):817-34
17080435
Nature. 1959 Jun 13;183(4676):1654-5
13666847
J Biosci. 2005 Feb;30(1):31-9
15824439
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 24;106(12):4870-5
19273843
Brain Res. 2006 Dec 18;1126(1):109-21
16905124
Endocrinology. 2006 Jun;147(6 Suppl):S4-10
16690812
Trends Neurosci. 1989 Mar;12(3):94-101
2469224
Endocrinology. 1998 Dec;139(12):5070-81
9832446
Multivariate Behav Res. 1966 Apr 1;1(2):245-76
26828106