RUI: Hormonal and Behavioral Attachment Responses

RUI：荷尔蒙和行为依恋反应

• 批准号: 8822240
• 负责人: Michael Hennessy
• 金额: $ 11.4万
• 依托单位: Wright State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1989
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1989-08-15 至 1992-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8822240&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Hormonal; Behavioral; Attachment; Responses

Infants that are involuntarily separated from their mothers may suffer severe physiological and behavioral consequences. Most of what we know concerning the physiological effects has derived from studies using nonhuman primates. These effects include increases in sympathetic activity, changes in neurotransmitter levels, and increased activity of the pituitary-adrenal system, a neuroendocrine system associated with stress. For many years, it was only possible to study such questions in primates since common laboratory rodents have been thought to respond to separation in a fundamentally different way than do primates, and possibly humans. With his previous NSF support, Dr. Hennessy demonstrated that the responses of young guinea pigs to maternal separation are in many ways similar to those of primates. The guinea pig model provides an alternative to primate research which, in turn, offers many practical advantages. Dr. Hennessy would continue his research to further our understanding of how brief periods of maternal separation alter neuroendocrine and behavioral functioning. These studies will contribute to our understanding of the consequences of mother-infant separation and processes of attachment and elucidate the nature of the stress response in young.

非自愿地与母亲分离的婴儿可能会遭受严重的生理和行为后果。我们所知道的大多数关于生理效应的研究都来自于对非人灵长类动物的研究。这些影响包括交感神经活动的增加，神经递质水平的变化，垂体-肾上腺系统（一种与压力相关的神经内分泌系统）活动的增加。多年来，只有在灵长类动物身上才能研究这些问题，因为人们一直认为，普通的实验室啮齿类动物对分离的反应与灵长类动物（可能与人类）有着根本不同的方式。在美国国家科学基金会之前的支持下，Hennessy博士证明了小豚鼠对母亲分离的反应在许多方面与灵长类动物相似。豚鼠模型为灵长类动物研究提供了另一种选择，而灵长类动物研究反过来又提供了许多实际优势。Hennessy博士将继续他的研究，以进一步了解母亲短暂的分离如何改变神经内分泌和行为功能。这些研究将有助于我们理解母子分离的后果和依恋的过程，并阐明幼儿应激反应的本质。