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Transgenerational inheritance of stress pathology

Transgenerational inheritance of stress pathology
Transgenerational inheritance of stress pathology
It is becoming increasingly evident that maternal exposure to adversity during pregnancy leads to life-long effects in offspring. While there appears to be some commonality in the effects of maternal stress on endocrine and behavioral outcomes in the first generation offspring, it is clear that effects are highly dependent on species, sex and age, as well as on the time in pregnancy when stress is experienced. Recent studies have identified that the effects of maternal stress are not confined to the first generation and that they can extend over multiple generations. These effects are also evident in humans. While our understanding of the potential mechanisms by which transgenerational programming of the stress response occurs remain largely undetermined, recent studies have begun to identify potential mechanisms of transfer. These include modified maternal adaptations to pregnancy, altered maternal behavior and transgenerational epigenetic programming. Such transgenerational programming of stress responses and pathologies has important societal consequences as it could provide a biological explanation for the generational persistence of human behaviors in populations exposed to adversity.

0014-4886
95-101
Matthews, S.G.
0f280da2-c88b-4f00-ac27-39525a61f328
Phillips, D.I.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Matthews, S.G.
0f280da2-c88b-4f00-ac27-39525a61f328
Phillips, D.I.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6

Matthews, S.G. and Phillips, D.I. (2012) Transgenerational inheritance of stress pathology. Experimental Neurology, 233 (1), 95-101. (doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2011.01.009). (PMID:21281632)

Record type: Article

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly evident that maternal exposure to adversity during pregnancy leads to life-long effects in offspring. While there appears to be some commonality in the effects of maternal stress on endocrine and behavioral outcomes in the first generation offspring, it is clear that effects are highly dependent on species, sex and age, as well as on the time in pregnancy when stress is experienced. Recent studies have identified that the effects of maternal stress are not confined to the first generation and that they can extend over multiple generations. These effects are also evident in humans. While our understanding of the potential mechanisms by which transgenerational programming of the stress response occurs remain largely undetermined, recent studies have begun to identify potential mechanisms of transfer. These include modified maternal adaptations to pregnancy, altered maternal behavior and transgenerational epigenetic programming. Such transgenerational programming of stress responses and pathologies has important societal consequences as it could provide a biological explanation for the generational persistence of human behaviors in populations exposed to adversity.

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More information

Published date: 31 January 2012
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences

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Local EPrints ID: 336695
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/336695
ISSN: 0014-4886
PURE UUID: 07788531-787d-42f7-a42e-f7abf7efea6d

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Date deposited: 03 Apr 2012 10:05
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:46

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Contributors

Author: S.G. Matthews
Author: D.I. Phillips

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