Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Growth and Development Following Prenatal Stress Exposure in Primates: An Examination of Ontogenetic Vulnerability

Growth and Development Following Prenatal Stress Exposure in Primates: An Examination of... Previous studies have found that stressful events during pregnancy can influence the developing fetus, resulting in attentional and neuromotor problems. This prospective study examined whether periods of vulnerability exist for neurobehavioral impairments associated with prenatal stress, using a nonhuman primate model. Twenty‐eight rhesus monkey infants were born to mothers in 3 groups: (1) early gestation stress involving mild psychological stress from gestational days 45–90, (2) mid‐late gestation stress from days 90–145, and (3) undisturbed controls. Infants were separated from their mothers on days 4, 9, 15, and 22 (±1) postpartum for growth and neurobehavioral assessments. Results indicated that infants from the early gestation stress condition weighed less than infants from mothers stressed during mid‐late gestation. Moreover, whereas both groups scored lower than controls on measures of attention and neuromotor maturity, early gestation stress was associated with more pronounced and more pervasive motor impairments than mid‐late gestation stress. These results suggest sensitivity to prenatal stress effects peaks during early gestation, tapering off during mid‐late gestation. Clarifying the period of greatest vulnerability to prenatal stress moves toward elucidating the underlying mechanism for prenatal stress effects and may lead to more successful intervention and/or prevention. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Child Development Wiley

Growth and Development Following Prenatal Stress Exposure in Primates: An Examination of Ontogenetic Vulnerability

Download PDF
12 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/growth-and-development-following-prenatal-stress-exposure-in-primates-Q3rB2Tnlr1

References (47)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 Wiley Subscription Services
ISSN
0009-3920
eISSN
1467-8624
DOI
10.1111/1467-8624.00020
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Previous studies have found that stressful events during pregnancy can influence the developing fetus, resulting in attentional and neuromotor problems. This prospective study examined whether periods of vulnerability exist for neurobehavioral impairments associated with prenatal stress, using a nonhuman primate model. Twenty‐eight rhesus monkey infants were born to mothers in 3 groups: (1) early gestation stress involving mild psychological stress from gestational days 45–90, (2) mid‐late gestation stress from days 90–145, and (3) undisturbed controls. Infants were separated from their mothers on days 4, 9, 15, and 22 (±1) postpartum for growth and neurobehavioral assessments. Results indicated that infants from the early gestation stress condition weighed less than infants from mothers stressed during mid‐late gestation. Moreover, whereas both groups scored lower than controls on measures of attention and neuromotor maturity, early gestation stress was associated with more pronounced and more pervasive motor impairments than mid‐late gestation stress. These results suggest sensitivity to prenatal stress effects peaks during early gestation, tapering off during mid‐late gestation. Clarifying the period of greatest vulnerability to prenatal stress moves toward elucidating the underlying mechanism for prenatal stress effects and may lead to more successful intervention and/or prevention.

Journal

Child Development – Wiley

Published: Jan 1, 1999

There are no references for this article.