Biological embedding in mental health: An epigenomic perspective

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aya Sasaki ◽  
Wilfred C. de Vega ◽  
Patrick O. McGowan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Postnatal Life ◽  
High Plasticity ◽  
Epigenetic Mechanisms ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Early Life Experience

Human epidemiological studies and studies of animal models provide many examples by which early life experiences influence health in a long-term manner, a concept known as biological embedding. Such experiences can have profound impacts during periods of high plasticity in prenatal and early postnatal life. Epigenetic mechanisms influence gene function in the absence of changes in gene sequence. In contrast to the relative stability of gene sequences, epigenetic mechanisms appear, at least to some extent, responsive to environmental signals. To date, a few examples appear to clearly link early social experiences to epigenetic changes in pathways relevant for mental health in adulthood. Our recent work using high-throughput epigenomic techniques points to large-scale changes in gene pathways in addition to candidate genes involved in the response to psychosocial stress and neuroplasticity. Elucidation of which pathways are epigenetically labile under what conditions will enable a more complete understanding of how the epigenome can mediate environmental interactions with the genome that are relevant for mental health. In this mini-review, we provide examples of nascent research into the influence of early life experience on mental health outcomes, discuss evidence of epigenetic mechanisms that may underlie these effects, and describe challenges for research in this area.

scholarly journals Sexual imprinting overrides order effects

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Moreira ◽  
Léa Zinck ◽  
Kensaku Nomoto ◽  
Susana Q. Lima
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mus Musculus ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Postnatal Life ◽  
Mus Musculus Domesticus ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
Sexual Imprinting ◽  
Early Life Experience

ABSTRACTMate choice is a complex decision that requires the integration of cues from potential mates with individual preferences. Choosers’ preferences are shaped by recent events, early life experience and by the evolutionary history of its own species. To better understand the interaction between these factors, we studied mate choice in the female house mouse, Mus musculus. Females of one of the musculus subspecies, Mus musculus musculus, show preference for males of their own subspecies compared to males of the sibling subspecies, Mus musculus domesticus. Such an assortative preference is ecologically relevant at contact zones, where it contributes to the reproductive isolation of sympatric populations and can be reproduced in controlled laboratory conditions, but its origins are still under debate. Here, we show that female mouse mate choice depends on both early postnatal life experience and the order of prospective mates encountered as an adult and that these effects interact asymmetrically. Whereas females raised in their normal M. m. musculus environment display a robust assortative preference, females fostered in a M. m. domesticus family prefer the first male encountered, regardless of subspecies. Thus, early life experience of M. m. musculus females, when concordant with genetic self-identity, overrides sampling order effects, ensuring robust assortative choice. In the absence of this match between phylogeny and early life experience, first impression effects dominate mate choice.

scholarly journals Rearing experience with ramps improves specific learning and behaviour and welfare on a commercial laying farm

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate I. Norman ◽  
Claire A. Weeks ◽  
John F. Tarlton ◽  
Christine J. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Early Life Experience ◽  
Bone Damage ◽  
Specific Learning

AbstractTo access resources in commercial laying houses hens must move between levels with agility to avoid injury. This study considered whether providing ramps during rear improved the ability of birds to transition between levels. Twelve commercial flocks (2000 birds/flock) on a multi-age site were examined between 1 and 40 weeks of age. All birds had access to elevated perching structures from 4 days of age. Six treatment flocks were also provided with ramps during rear to facilitate access to these structures. Flocks were visited three times during rear and three times at lay to record transitioning behaviour and use of the elevated structures, together with scores for keel bone and feather damage. Ramp reared flocks used the elevated structures to a greater extent at rear (P = 0.001) and at lay, when all flocks had ramps, showed less hesitancy [i.e. pacing (P = 0.002), crouching (P = 0.001) and wing-flapping (P = 0.001)] in accessing levels. Mean levels of keel bone damage were reduced in ramp reared flocks (52%) compared with control flocks (64.8%) at 40 weeks of age (P = 0.028). The early life experience of the ramp reared flocks enabled specific learning that translated and persisted in later life and resulted in overall welfare benefits.

scholarly journals Early-Life Experience, Epigenetics, and the Developing Brain

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Kundakovic ◽  
Frances A Champagne
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Developing Brain ◽  
Early Life Experience

scholarly journals Serotonin deficiency alters susceptibility to the long-term consequences of adverse early life experience

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 69-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin D. Sachs ◽  
Ramona M. Rodriguiz ◽  
Ha L. Tran ◽  
Akshita Iyer ◽  
William C. Wetsel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Early Life Experience ◽  
Serotonin Deficiency ◽  
Long Term Consequences

scholarly journals What does a neuron learn from multisensory experience?

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 883-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghong Xu ◽  
Liping Yu ◽  
Terrence R. Stanford ◽  
Benjamin A. Rowland ◽  
Barry E. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Rearing Environment ◽  
Early Life Experience ◽  
Environmental Events ◽  
Cat Superior Colliculus ◽  
Maturational Process ◽  
Multisensory Experience

The brain's ability to integrate information from different senses is acquired only after extensive sensory experience. However, whether early life experience instantiates a general integrative capacity in multisensory neurons or one limited to the particular cross-modal stimulus combinations to which one has been exposed is not known. By selectively restricting either visual-nonvisual or auditory-nonauditory experience during the first few months of life, the present study found that trisensory neurons in cat superior colliculus (as well as their bisensory counterparts) became adapted to the cross-modal stimulus combinations specific to each rearing environment. Thus, even at maturity, trisensory neurons did not integrate all cross-modal stimulus combinations to which they were capable of responding, but only those that had been linked via experience to constitute a coherent spatiotemporal event. This selective maturational process determines which environmental events will become the most effective targets for superior colliculus-mediated shifts of attention and orientation.

scholarly journals Metabolomics datasets in the Born in Bradford cohort

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 264
Author(s):  
Kurt Taylor ◽  
Nancy McBride ◽  
Neil J Goulding ◽  
Kimberley Burrows ◽  
Dan Mason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cord Blood ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Metabolomic Profiling ◽  
Born In Bradford ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Metabolomic Data ◽  
Phenotype Data ◽  
Offspring Health

Metabolomics is the quantification of small molecules, commonly known as metabolites. Collectively, these metabolites and their interactions within a biological system are known as the metabolome. The metabolome is a unique area of study, capturing influences from both genotype and environment. The availability of high-throughput technologies for quantifying large numbers of metabolites, as well as lipids and lipoprotein particles, has enabled detailed investigation of human metabolism in large-scale epidemiological studies. The Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort includes 12,453 women who experienced 13,776 pregnancies recruited between 2007-2011, their partners and their offspring. In this data note, we describe the metabolomic data available in BiB, profiled during pregnancy, in cord blood and during early life in the offspring. These include two platforms of metabolomic profiling: nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. The maternal measures, taken at 26-28 weeks’ gestation, can provide insight into the metabolome during pregnancy and how it relates to maternal and offspring health. The offspring cord blood measurements provide information on the fetal metabolome. These measures, alongside maternal pregnancy measures, can be used to explore how they may influence outcomes. The infant measures (taken around ages 12 and 24 months) provide a snapshot of the early life metabolome during a key phase of nutrition, environmental exposures, growth, and development. These metabolomic data can be examined alongside the BiB cohorts’ extensive phenotype data from questionnaires, medical, educational and social record linkage, and other ‘omics data.

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