Department of Anatomy/Neurobiology, UC-Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2011 Jul;96(1):79-88. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2011.02.008. Epub 2011 Feb 19.
Epigenetic mechanisms are involved in programming gene expression throughout development. In addition, they are key contributors to the processes by which early-life experience fine-tunes the expression levels of key neuronal genes, governing learning and memory throughout life. Here we describe the long-lasting, bi-directional effects of early-life experience on learning and memory. We discuss how enriched postnatal experience enduringly augments spatial learning, and how chronic early-life stress results in persistent and progressive deficits in the structure and function of hippocampal neurons. The existing and emerging roles of epigenetic mechanisms in these fundamental neuroplasticity phenomena are illustrated.
表观遗传机制参与了整个发育过程中基因表达的编程。此外,它们是调节关键神经元基因表达水平的关键因素,从而控制着整个生命过程中的学习和记忆。在这里,我们描述了早期生活经历对学习和记忆的长期、双向影响。我们讨论了丰富的产后经验如何持久地增强空间学习能力,以及慢性早期生活压力如何导致海马神经元的结构和功能持续而渐进的缺陷。本文还阐述了表观遗传机制在这些基本神经可塑性现象中的现有和新兴作用。