title: Effects of induced placental and fetal growth restriction, size at birth and early neonatal growth on behavioural and brain structural lateralization in sheep.
abstract: Poor perinatal growth in humans results in asymmetrical grey matter loss in fetuses and infants and increased functional and behavioural asymmetry, but specific contributions of pre- and postnatal growth are unclear. We therefore compared strength and direction of lateralization in obstacle avoidance and maze exit preference tasks in offspring of placentally restricted (PR: 10M, 13F) and control (CON: 23M, 17F) sheep pregnancies at 18 and 40 weeks of age, and examined gross brain structure of the prefrontal cortex at 52 weeks of age (PR: 14M, 18F; CON: 23M, 25F). PR did not affect lateralization direction, but 40-week-old PR females had greater lateralization strength than CON (P = .021). Behavioural lateralization measures were not correlated with perinatal growth. PR did not alter brain morphology. In males, cross-sectional areas of the prefrontal cortex and left hemisphere correlated positively with skull width at birth, and white matter area correlated positively with neonatal growth rate of the skull (all P < .05). These studies reinforce the need to include progeny of both sexes in future studies of neurodevelopmental programming, and suggest that restricting in utero growth has relatively mild effects on gross brain structural or behavioural lateralization in sheep.
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|b Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide Medical School , Adelaide , Australia.|c School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences , Adelaide , South Australia , Australia.
authors.forename: Damien Seth
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1104-0836
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: c School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences , Adelaide , South Australia , Australia.
authors.forename: Susan J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1804-690X
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hazel
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|c School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences , Adelaide , South Australia , Australia.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kind
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|b Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide Medical School , Adelaide , Australia.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: c School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences , Adelaide , South Australia , Australia.
authors.forename: Danila
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1082-6848
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|d School of Population Health , University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia , Australia.
authors.forename: Lynne C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Giles
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|b Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide Medical School , Adelaide , Australia.
authors.forename: Miles J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: De Blasio
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|b Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide Medical School , Adelaide , Australia.
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7498-1353
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Owens
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|b Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide Medical School , Adelaide , Australia.
authors.forename: Julia B
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9648-7540
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Pitcher
authors.affiliation: a Robinson Research Institute , North Adelaide , Australia.|b Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Adelaide Medical School , Adelaide , Australia.
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2823-3004
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gatford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001724:Birth Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D012737:Sex Factors; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D012886:Skull / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013037:Spatial Behavior
keywords: IUGR; Sheep; cerebral asymmetry; lateralization; sex differences