Impacts of early social experience on cognitive development in infant rhesus macaques

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 895-908
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Murphy ◽  
Amanda M. Dettmer
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Early Social Experience ◽  
Infant Rhesus

scholarly journals Serotonin pathway gene–gene and gene–environment interactions influence behavioral stress response in infant rhesus macaques

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin L. Kinnally ◽  
Genesio M. Karere ◽  
Leslie A. Lyons ◽  
Sally P. Mendoza ◽  
William A. Mason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Behavioral Activity ◽  
Risk Alleles ◽  
Behavioral Stress ◽  
Gene Environment ◽  
Social Separation ◽  
Infant Rhesus

AbstractA subset of serotonin (5-HT) pathway polymorphisms has been shown to confer risk for psychological dysfunction, particularly in individuals who experience early adversity. Understanding the developmental processes underlying these Gene × Environment interactions will strengthen the search for risk factors for behavioral dysfunction. We investigated the combined influence of two serotonin pathway polymorphisms and species-atypical, and possibly adverse, rearing (nursery rearing [NR]) on two dimensions of behavioral stress response in infant rhesus macaques. We hypothesized that the experience of NR and possession of both “high-risk” genotypes (genotypes that are thought to confer low 5-HT function) would predict the greatest behavioral stress response to maternal/social separation. Using a matched-pair design, the impact of early experience and the serotonin transporter (rh5-HTTLPR) and monoamine oxidase A (rhMAO-A-LPR) promoter polymorphisms on behavioral reactivity of 136 infant rhesus macaques (90–120 days of age) during a 25-hr social separation/relocation procedure was assessed. Each pair included one infant reared with mother in a large, outdoor field enclosure (field rearing) and one infant reared in a nursery (NR). Pairs were matched for putative gene activity of each polymorphism, sex, age, and weight at testing. Behavioral responses in a “human intruder” test were recorded, and activity and emotional reactivity composites were created to detect different aspects of psychological adaptation to stress. Our hypothesis that high-risk groups would be the most reactive to stress was not entirely borne out. Rh5-HTTLPR × rhMAOA-LPR interactions predicted emotional reactivity and tended to predict behavioral activity scores. Carriers of the two “low-risk” alleles exhibited the lowest behavioral activity, as might be predicted, but carriers of both “high-risk” alleles were two of four genotype groups exhibiting the highest observed Emotional Reactivity. Gene × Gene interactions were exacerbated by the experience of nursery rearing, as predicted, however. Finally, we suggest that genetic or environmental factors may mitigate the risk for behavioral dysregulation illustrated in the patterns of behavioral activity and emotional reactivity displayed by infants.

scholarly journals The effects of breastfeeding versus formula-feeding on cerebral cortex maturation in infant rhesus macaques

NeuroImage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 372-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Liu ◽  
Martha Neuringer ◽  
John W. Erdman ◽  
Matthew J. Kuchan ◽  
Lauren Renner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Formula Feeding ◽  
Infant Rhesus

scholarly journals Social history and exposure to pathogen signals modulate social status effects on gene regulation in rhesus macaques

2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (38) ◽  
pp. 23317-23322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquín Sanz ◽  
Paul L. Maurizio ◽  
Noah Snyder-Mackler ◽  
Noah D. Simons ◽  
Tawni Voyles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Social History ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Type I ◽  
Gene Expression Response ◽  
Expression Of Genes

Social experience is an important predictor of disease susceptibility and survival in humans and other social mammals. Chronic social stress is thought to generate a proinflammatory state characterized by elevated antibacterial defenses and reduced investment in antiviral defense. Here we manipulated long-term social status in female rhesus macaques to show that social subordination alters the gene expression response to ex vivo bacterial and viral challenge. As predicted by current models, bacterial lipopolysaccharide polarizes the immune response such that low status corresponds to higher expression of genes in NF-κB–dependent proinflammatory pathways and lower expression of genes involved in the antiviral response and type I IFN signaling. Counter to predictions, however, low status drives more exaggerated expression of both NF-κB– and IFN-associated genes after cells are exposed to the viral mimic Gardiquimod. Status-driven gene expression patterns are linked not only to social status at the time of sampling, but also to social history (i.e., past social status), especially in unstimulated cells. However, for a subset of genes, we observed interaction effects in which females who fell in rank were more strongly affected by current social status than those who climbed the social hierarchy. Taken together, our results indicate that the effects of social status on immune cell gene expression depend on pathogen exposure, pathogen type, and social history—in support of social experience-mediated biological embedding in adulthood, even in the conventionally memory-less innate immune system.

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