The development of the organism is subjected to critical and complex influences during the perinatal period. Prenatal and postnatal stresses can have different long-term behavioral effects, and appropriate postnatal manipulations can counteract the behavioral effects of prenatal stress. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of changes in the activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary...

BACKGROUND Exposure to prenatal stress is associated with later adverse health and adjustment outcomes. This is generally presumed to arise through early environmentally mediated programming effects on the foetus. However, associations could arise through factors that influence mothers' characteristics and behaviour during pregnancy which are inherited by offspring. METHOD A 'prenatal cross-f...

Many of the effects of prenatal stress on the endocrine function, brain morphology, and behavior in mammals can be reversed by brief sessions of postnatal separation and handling. We have tested the hypothesis that the effects of both the prenatal and postnatal experiences are mediated by negative and positive regulation of neural stem cell (NSC) number during critical stages in neurodevelopmen...

This study examined the relationship between moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure, prenatal stress, and postnatal response to a challenging event in 6-month-old rhesus monkeys. Forty-one rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) infants were exposed prenatally to moderate level alcohol, maternal stress, or both. Offspring plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) were determined from blo...

prenatal stress in rats results in structural, physiological and behavioral alterations that persist in adulthood. serotonin (5-ht) is an important neurotransmitter known to be involved in these prenatal stress-induced behavioral alterations. the aim of the study was to investigate the effects of interrupted synthesis of 5-ht and immobilization stress during different gestational period on brai...

Chronic stress contributes to preterm birth (PTB), through direct physiological mechanisms or behavioral pathways. This review identified interventions to prevent PTB through decreased maternal stress. Studies were grouped according to intervention: group prenatal care (11 studies), care coordination (8 studies), health insurance expansion (4 studies), expanded prenatal education/support in the...

Prenatal stress is associated with altered behavioral, cognitive, and psychiatric outcomes in offspring. Due to the importance of GABAergic systems in normal development and in psychiatric disorders, prenatal stress effects on these neurons have been investigated in animal models. Prenatal stress delays GABAergic progenitor migration, but the significance of these early developmental disruption...

Experimental animal models have demonstrated that one of the primary consequences of prenatal stress is increased fear and anxiety in the offspring. Few prospective human studies have evaluated the consequences of prenatal stress on anxiety during preadolescence. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the consequences of prenatal exposure to both maternal biological stress signals an...

Exposure to prenatal stress alters the phenotype of the offspring in adulthood. When the prenatal and adult environments do not match, these alterations may induce pathology risk. There are, however, large individual differences in the effects of prenatal stress. While some individuals seem vulnerable, others appear to be relatively resistant to its effects. In this review we discuss potential ...

Stress during pregnancy can impair biological and behavioral responses in the adult offspring and some of these effects are associated with structural changes in specific brain regions. Furthermore, these outcomes can vary according to strain, gender, and type and duration of the maternal stress. Indeed, early stress can induce sexually dimorphic long-term effects on diverse endocrine axes, inc...