Variations in the postnatal maternal environment in mice: Effects on maternal behaviour and behavioural and endocrine responses in the adult offspring
According to the maternal mediation hypothesis, brain and behavioural development in rodents is affected by environment-dependent variations in maternal care. Thus, it has been shown that early handling results in reduced behavioural and neuroendocrine responses to stressors and that these effects are associated with increased maternal care received during infancy. To investigate this further in […]
Developmental plasticity of HPA and fear responses in rats: A critical review of the maternal mediation hypothesis
Developmental plasticity of HPA and fear responses in rats has been proposed to be mediated by environment-dependent variation in active maternal care. Here, we review this maternal mediation hypothesis based on the postnatal manipulation literature and on our own recent research in rats. We show that developmental plasticity of HPA and fear responses in rats […]