Diorio Josie, Meaney Michael J
McGill Program for the Study of Behaviour, Genes and Environment, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Que.
J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2007 Jul;32(4):275-84.
There are profound maternal effects on individual differences in defensive responses in species ranging from plants to insects to birds. In this paper, we review data from the rat that suggest comparable forms of maternal effects on defensive responses to stress, which are mediated by the effects of variations in maternal behaviour on gene expression. Under conditions of environmental adversity, maternal effects enhance the capacity for defensive responses in the offspring. These effects appear to "program" emotional, cognitive and endocrine systems toward increased sensitivity to adversity. In environments with an increased level of adversity, such effects can be considered adaptive, enhancing the capacity for responses that have immediate adaptive value; the cost is an increased risk for multiple forms of pathology in later life.
从植物到昆虫再到鸟类，母体对防御反应的个体差异有着深远影响。在本文中，我们回顾了来自大鼠的数据，这些数据表明母体对压力防御反应存在类似形式的影响，这种影响是由母体行为变化对基因表达的作用介导的。在环境逆境条件下，母体效应增强了后代的防御反应能力。这些效应似乎会“编程”情绪、认知和内分泌系统，使其对逆境的敏感性增加。在逆境水平增加的环境中，这种效应可被视为适应性的，增强了具有直接适应性价值的反应能力；代价是晚年出现多种病理状况的风险增加。
