"Infant-caregiver interactions shape brain development and have lifelong consequences for mental health"

OLIVER BOSCH; REGINA SULLIVAN; CARLA DALMAZ; MARIA EUGENIA PALLARES; CHRISTOPHER MURGATROYD

Congreso; Congreso de la XXXVI SAN ANNUAL MEETING; 2021

In mammals, caregivers-offspring interactions are an important developmental cue for the environmental quality that prepares offspring for the conditions of life. Also, these interactions can impact on the individual?s growth and behavior. In humans, adverse caregivers-offspring bond includes neglect, maltreatment, and exposure to toxic stress by at least one of the caregivers. Those adverse early bonds raise the risk for psychiatric disorders throughout the lifespan of the individual. In animals, biparental care is relatively rare and these interactions are primarily through the mother. Several rodent models have been established to manipulate the quality of mother-infant interactions during early postnatal life. Evidence from these studies helped to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms by which these interactions impact neurobehavioral development in the offspring and induce later-life behavioral consequences. In this Symposium we present novel knowledge driven by four renown leaders in the field that have used different research approaches to study the impact of maternal care on brain and behavior development in rodent offspring. Although the approach of each speaker is interestingly different, al succeed in delineating a specific aspect of how early-life experiences driven by caregivers influences the offspring outcome. Taken together, their studies strengthen the idea that the trajectory of the developing brain is influenced by early-life experiences.