Maternal Style Selectively Shapes Amygdalar Development and Social Behavior in Rats Genetically Prone to High Anxiety.

ABSTRACT: The early-life environment critically influences neurodevelopment and later psychological health. To elucidate neural and environmental elements that shape emotional behavior, we developed a rat model of individual differences in temperament and environmental reactivity. We selectively bred rats for high versus low behavioral response to novelty and found that high-reactive (bred high-responder, bHR) rats displayed greater risk-taking, impulsivity and aggression relative to low-reactive (bred low-responder, bLR) rats, which showed high levels of anxiety/depression-like behavior and certain stress vulnerability. The bHR/bLR traits are heritable, but prior work revealed bHR/bLR maternal style differences, with bLR dams showing more maternal attention than bHRs. The present study implemented

SUBMITTER: Cohen JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4485591 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature