Early weaning increases anxiety via brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling in the mouse prefrontal cortex.

ABSTRACT: Deprivation of maternal care during early development markedly affects emotional development, but the underlying neuromolecular mechanisms are not fully understood. In a mouse model of disrupted mother-infant relationship, early weaning causes long-term impacts on pups to exhibit increased corticosterone secretion, anxiety, and stress responses in their adulthood. Revealing the molecular mechanisms behind it would beneficial to ameliorating mental problems caused by abuse in childhood. We report that normalizing circulating corticosterone in early-weaned mice, either in adulthood or soon after weaning, ameliorated anxiety levels assessed in the plus maze test. Administering a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist into the prefrontal cortex (PFC) reversed the effects of early weaning, whereas

SUBMITTER: Kikusui T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6408497 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature