Dataset Information

Mother recognition and preference after neonatal amygdala lesions in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) raised in a semi-naturalistic environment.

ABSTRACT: Attachment to the caregiver, typically the biological mother, is crucial to young mammals' socio-emotional development. Although studies in nonprimate species suggest that the amygdala regulates social preference and attachment development, its role in primate filial attachment development has been little investigated and has produced mixed results. This study assessed the effects of neonatal amygdala- (Neo-A, N?=?16) and sham- (Neo-C, N?=?12) lesions on mother recognition and discrimination in macaques raised in species-typical social groups. Neonatal amygdalectomy did not affect social discriminative abilities and mother preference at 3 and 6 months of age, strongly suggesting that the amygdala is not involved in the cognitive processes underlying the development of filial attachment at least when the amygdala damage occurred after the third to fourth weeks of age. Nevertheless, as compared to sham-operated controls, amygdalectomized infants initiated physical contact with their mothers less frequently. The findings are discussed in relation to the known contribution of the amygdala to filial attachment in both rodents and humans.

SUBMITTER: Goursaud AP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4419750 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mother recognition and preference after neonatal amygdala lesions in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) raised in a semi-naturalistic environment.

Goursaud Anne-Pierre S AP Wallen Kim K Bachevalier Jocelyne J

Developmental psychobiology 20140708 8

Attachment to the caregiver, typically the biological mother, is crucial to young mammals' socio-emotional development. Although studies in nonprimate species suggest that the amygdala regulates social preference and attachment development, its role in primate filial attachment development has been little investigated and has produced mixed results. This study assessed the effects of neonatal amygdala- (Neo-A, N = 16) and sham- (Neo-C, N = 12) lesions on mother recognition and discrimination in ...[more]

PMID: 25042548

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Project description:How individuals respond to and cope with stress is linked with their health and well-being. It is presumed that early stress responsiveness helps shape the health of the developing organism, but the relationship between stress responsiveness and early immune function during development is not well-known. We hypothesized that stress responsiveness may shape epigenetic regulation of immune genes in infancy. We investigated whether aspects of behavioral responsiveness and hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal stress-response were associated with epigenome-wide immune cell DNA methylation patterns in 154 infant rhesus monkeys (3-4 months old). Infants' behavioral and physiological responses were collected during a standardized biobehavioral assessment, which included temporary relocation and separation from their mother and social group. Genome-wide DNA methylation was quantified using restricted representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) from blood DNA collected 2-hours post-separation. Epigenome-wide analyses were conducted using simple regression, multiple regression controlling for immune cell counts, and permutation regression, all corrected for false discovery rate. Across the variables analyzed, there were 20,368 unique sites (in 9,040 genes) at which methylation was significantly associated with at least one behavioral responsiveness or cortisol measure across the three analyses. There were significant associations in 442 genes in the Immune System Process ontology category, and 94 genes in the Inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling gene pathway. Out of 35 candidate genes that were selected for further investigation, there were 13 genes with at least one site at which methylation was significantly associated with behavioral responsiveness or cortisol, including two intron sites in the glucocorticoid receptor gene, at which methylation was negatively correlated with emotional behavior the day following the social separation (Day 2 Emotionality; β = -0.39, q < 0.001) and cortisol response following a relocation stressor (Sample 1; β = -0.33, q < 0.001). We conclude that biobehavioral stress responsiveness may correlate with the developing epigenome, and that DNA methylation of immune cells may be a mechanism by which patterns of stress response affect health and immune functioning.

Dataset Information

Mother recognition and preference after neonatal amygdala lesions in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) raised in a semi-naturalistic environment.

Publications

Mother recognition and preference after neonatal amygdala lesions in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) raised in a semi-naturalistic environment.

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