Student Research Committee, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Int J Neurosci. 2021 Mar;131(3):233-238. doi: 10.1080/00207454.2020.1738427. Epub 2020 Apr 2.
Prenatal stress has been shown to affect the cognition of offspring, including memory and learning abilities. In the current study, the long-term effects of chronic prenatal exposure to the physical or psychological stress on locomotion and attention were evaluated by using open field test (OFT) and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR). In addition, the level of corticosterone was measured after the ASR trial. Male and female rodents that underwent prenatal physical and psychological stress had an augmented velocity in OFT, and only male animals showed an increased ASR. Neither male nor female offsprings had an alteration in the level of corticosterone and PPI values regardless of the stress type. Our results revealed that exposure to stress during the development of fetus increases ASR in a sex-dependent manner. This finding might implicate the effect of prenatal stress on attention in male offspring regardless of the stress type.
产前应激已被证明会影响后代的认知能力，包括记忆力和学习能力。在本研究中，通过使用旷场试验（OFT）和听觉惊跳反射（ASR）的前脉冲抑制（PPI）评估了慢性产前暴露于身体或心理应激对运动和注意力的长期影响。此外，在 ASR 试验后测量了皮质酮的水平。经历产前身体和心理应激的雄性和雌性啮齿动物在 OFT 中的速度增加，只有雄性动物表现出 ASR 增加。无论应激类型如何，雄性和雌性后代的皮质酮水平和 PPI 值均没有改变。我们的结果表明，胎儿发育过程中暴露于应激会以性别依赖的方式增加 ASR。这一发现可能暗示了产前应激对雄性后代注意力的影响，而与应激类型无关。
