Abstract
Adaptive plasticity occurs intensely during the early postnatal period through processes like proliferation, migration, differentiation, synaptogenesis, myelination and apoptosis. Exposure to particular stimuli during this critical period has long-lasting effects on cognition, stress reactivity and behavior. Maternal care is the main source of social, sensory and chemical stimulation to the young and is, therefore, critical to “fine-tune” the offspring’s neural development. Mothers providing a low quantity or quality of stimulation produce offspring that will exhibit reduced cognitive performance, impaired social affiliation and increased agonistic behaviors. Transgenerational transmission of such traits occurs epigenetically, i.e., through mechanisms like DNA methylation and post-translational modification of nucleosomal histones, processes that silence or increase gene expression without affecting the DNA sequence. Reciprocally, providing maternal care profoundly affects the behavior, learning, memory and fine neuroanatomy of the adult female. Such effects are in many cases permanent and sometimes they involve the hormones of pregnancy and lactation. The above evidence supports the idea that the mother-young dyad exerts profound and permanent effects on the brains of both adult and developing organisms, respectively. Effects on the latter can be explained by the neural developmental processes taking place during the early postnatal period. In contrast, little is known about the mechanisms mediating the plasticity of the adult maternal brain. The bidirectional effects that mother and young exert on each other’s brains exemplify a remarkable plasticity of this organ for organizing itself and provide an immense source of variability for adaptation and evolution in mammals.
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Abbreviations
- 5-HIAA:
-
5-Hydroxyindoleacetic acid
- 5-HT:
-
5-Hydroxytryptamine
- ACTH:
-
Adrenocorticotrophin hormone
- ADP-ribosyl:
-
Adenosin diphosphate-ribosyl
- AMG:
-
Amygdala
- AMPA:
-
α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid
- AR:
-
Artificial rearing
- AVP:
-
Arginine vasopressin
- BDNF:
-
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
- bFGF:
-
Basic Fibroblast growth factor
- BNST:
-
Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
- CA1:
-
Field CA1 of hippocampus
- CA3:
-
Field CA3 of hippocampus
- CBZ:
-
Benzodiazepines
- CeA:
-
Central nucleus of the amygdala
- CD38:
-
Transmembrane glycoprotein
- CNS:
-
Central nervous system
- CORT:
-
Corticosterone
- CREB:
-
cAMP response element-binding protein
- CRF:
-
Corticotropin-releasing factor
- CRF ir :
-
Corticotrophin-releasing factor -like immunoreactivity
- CSF:
-
Cerebrospinal fluid
- DA:
-
Dopamine
- DNA:
-
Deoxyribonucleid acid
- DRN:
-
Dorsal Raphe nucleus
- EPM:
-
Elevated plus maze
- FC:
-
Frontal cortex
- FS:
-
Forced swimming test
- GABA:
-
γ-aminobutyric acid
- GAP-43:
-
Growth associated protein 43
- GC:
-
Glucocorticoid
- GFAP:
-
Glial fibrillary acidic protein
- LC/PBN:
-
Locus coeruleus/parabrachial nucleus
- LG-ABN:
-
Licking/grooming arched-back nursing
- LH:
-
Luteinizing hormone
- MAPK:
-
Mitogen-activated protein kinase
- mRNA:
-
Ribonucleic acid messenger
- MB:
-
Maternal behavior
- MD:
-
Maternal deprivation
- MeA:
-
Medial amygdale
- mPFC:
-
Medial Prefrontal cortex
- MPOA:
-
Medial preoptic area
- MR:
-
Mother rearing
- MS:
-
Maternal Separation
- NAcc:
-
Nucleus accumbens
- NCAM:
-
Neural cell adhesion molecule
- Neu-N:
-
Neural structural protein
- NMDA:
-
N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid
- NTS:
-
Nucleus tractus solitarius
- OT:
-
Oxytocin
- PFC:
-
Prefrontal cortex
- P:
-
Posnatal day
- PRL:
-
Prolactin
- PVN:
-
Paraventricular nucleus
- S-100β:
-
Astrocyte marker protein
- SERT:
-
Serotonin transporter
- SHR:
-
Spontaneous hypertensive rats
- SON:
-
Supraoptic nucleus
- UV:
-
Ultrasonic vocalization
- WKY:
-
Wistar Kyoto rat
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants # 128625 and 156413 (to GGM and AIM, respectively) from CONACYT (National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico). Partial support was received from grant # 181334 to Grupo de Investigación G3, CONACYT. The authors thank Mayra Flores-Jiménez for her help in the preparation of the tables.
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González-Mariscal, G., Melo, A.I. (2017). Bidirectional Effects of Mother-Young Contact on the Maternal and Neonatal Brains. In: von Bernhardi, R., Eugenín, J., Muller, K. (eds) The Plastic Brain. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1015. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62817-2_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62817-2_6
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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