Changes induced by prenatal stress in behavior and brain morphology: can they be prevented or reversed?

摘要: This chapter presents a critical analysis of the behavioral alterations reported in offspring women exposed to stress and/or depression during pregnancy and neurochemical structural changles underlying them. Among attributed prenatal humans experimental rats both sexes is impaired regulation hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, anxiety exaggerated fear novelty, decreased social interaction. Learning attention deficits are more prevalent boys male rats. Fear novelty associated with enlargement amygdala its corticotropin-releasing factor content, socialization, lower oxytocin activity amygdala. decrease neurogenesis, dendritic complexity, spine number dorsal hippocampus. Fostering prenatally stressed (PS) pups onto control mothers prevents dysregulation HPA axis heightened anxiety, indicating role for postnatal factors their etiology. By contrast, learning impairment socialization not affected by this fostering procedure therefore mediated.