Longitudinal Investigation of Maternal Influences on Infant Outcomes Mediated by Physiological Investment and Behavioral Care during Lactation in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。在灵长类动物的母亲投资策略的研究主要集中在哺乳期的女性和他们的婴儿的行为，记录哺乳的频率，接近维护，和断奶的动态。到目前为止，人们对母亲投资的主要形式--乳汁合成--知之甚少。这个项目将解决两个重要的问题：（1）母亲的条件和生活史的权衡如何影响哺乳投资和随后的繁殖和（2）哺乳投资的差异如何影响婴儿的发育轨迹？纵向比较哺乳期内和母亲之间的表现，婴儿的生长和行为发展的后果，将展示母亲如何操纵投资与自己的，他们的婴儿的，生理和社会条件。该研究项目将提供第一个系统的纵向信息，调查单一物种内哺乳动物哺乳策略的所有方面（乳汁合成，哺乳行为，哺乳期至断奶的持续时间，以及哺乳期间支持的婴儿数量和性别比）。因此，这项研究将探讨哺乳的基本方面，以前没有被调查，并推进我们的理解如何选择塑造了母亲的投资策略，在一个物种的特点是一个缓慢的生活史和复杂的社会组织。此外，这项研究的广泛影响是巨大的。这项研究的数据将直接解决影响人类母亲及其婴儿健康的关键问题。美国和世界各地的母乳喂养率明显低于最佳水平，导致婴儿长期有害的发育和健康后果。在受控研究条件下，了解哺乳期的限制如何影响母乳的营养价值以及对婴儿的影响方面的进展，将为人类母亲面临的类似挑战提供见解。这项研究将提供宝贵的资源，在存档的牛奶样本和公共数据库的形式，为其他研究人员研究婴儿发育的最终和近的角度。最后，拟议的研究将纳入加州大学戴维斯分校和加州国家灵长类动物研究中心的培训计划。该奖项将为一名年轻的女性新研究员提供部分博士后水平的支持，并雇用一名全职技术员，一名半职技术员和一名本科生。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Studies of maternal investment strategies in primates have focused mainly on the behavior of lactating females and their infants, documenting the frequency of suckling, proximity maintenance, and the dynamics of weaning. To date little is known about the primary form of maternal investment; milk synthesis. This project will address two important questions: (1) How do maternal condition and life history tradeoffs affect lactational investment and subsequent reproduction and (2) How do differences in lactational investment influence infant developmental trajectories? Longitudinal comparisons of lactation performance within and among mothers, and the consequences for infant growth and behavioral development, will demonstrate how mothers manipulate investment in relation to their own, and their infant's, physiological and social condition. This research project will provide the first systematic, longitudinal information investigating all dimensions of mammalian lactation strategies within a single species (milk synthesis, nursing behavior, duration of lactation until weaning, and number and sex-ratio of infants supported during lactation). As such this study will explore fundamental aspects of lactation that have previously not been investigated, and advance our understanding of how selection has shaped maternal investment strategies in a species characterized by a slow life history and complex social organization. Moreover the broader impacts of this research are substantial. The data from this study will directly address critical issues affecting the health of human mothers and their infants. Breastfeeding rates in the US and throughout the world are significantly below optimum, contributing to long-term deleterious developmental and health consequences for infants. Advances in understanding how constraints during lactation influence the nutritional value of the mother's milk and the consequences for infants, under controlled research conditions, will provide insights into similar challenges for human mothers. This research will provide valuable resources, in the form of archived milk samples and public databases, for other researchers studying infant development from ultimate and proximate perspectives. Lastly, the proposed study will incorporate training programs at UC Davis and the California National Primate Research Center. The award will provide partial post-doctoral level support for a young female new investigator as well as employ one full-time technician, one half-time technician, and one undergraduate.