Prenatal Stress Alters the Development of Socioemotional Behavior and Amygdala Neuron Excitability in Rats.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal stress (PS) is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders with diverse ages of onset and socioemotional symptoms. Some PS-linked disorders involve characteristic social deficits, such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia, but PS also promotes anxiety disorders. We propose the diversity of symptoms following PS arises from perturbations to early brain development. To this end, we characterized the effects of PS on the developmental trajectory of physiology of the amygdala, a late-developing center for socioemotional control. We found that PS dampened socioemotional behavior and reduced amygdala neuron excitability in offspring during infancy (at postnatal days (P)10, 14, 17 and 21), preadolescence (day 28), and adulthood (day 60). PS offspring in infancy produced fewe

SUBMITTER: Ehrlich DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4613602 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature