Doctoral Dissertation Research: Early-life adversity: Maternal effects in a wild primate

在早期生命中，生物体从它们的母亲那里得到关于环境的提示，特别是她的荷尔蒙。但后代对这些信号的反应还不完全清楚。这个博士论文项目将研究早期生活环境和母亲的“压力”荷尔蒙如何影响长寿的野生灵长类动物的发育。在人类中，母亲的高压力会导致后代出生体重较低，而这反过来又预示着以后的生活中生理状态不佳。通过对野生灵长类动物的研究，这项研究将有助于确定为什么存在这些联系，并可能为旨在帮助防止负面结果的干预措施提供信息。此外，该项目将通过经常向当地社区成员、游客和公园管理官员介绍，为研究地点和周围地区的保护和教育做出贡献。这位合作者还将在她的整个论文期间继续指导实验室里的本科生女性。当面临逆境时，哺乳动物母亲可以投资于后代的资源较少。这些母亲还会体验到更高水平的“压力”荷尔蒙。这些激素，通过胎盘和母乳，可以到达后代，并表明母亲撤资，潜在地导致调整后代发育对这些信号的反应。后代有两种可能的调整：1)发育各方面的延迟，或2)发育方面的权衡，例如，在免疫系统方面偏向于增长而不是投资。使用非侵入性粪便激素样本，该项目将首先确定导致母亲应激激素升高的环境的社会和生态因素。接下来，通过行为观察，研究人员将检查母亲的压力水平是否会影响母亲对子女的行为。最后，研究人员将对后代发育的四个方面(生长速度、运动技能获得、独立时间和免疫功能)进行非侵入性评估，以确定后代是否通过推迟所有发育标志或进行权衡来应对母亲的应激激素。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In early life, organisms receive cues about their environment from their mother, specifically her hormones. But how offspring respond to these signals is not fully understood. This doctoral dissertation project will examine how the early-life environment and maternal “stress” hormones impact development in a long-lived, wild primate. In humans, high maternal stress can result in low offspring birth weight, which in turn predicts poor physiological status later in life. By studying a wild primate, this research will help identify why these connections exist and could inform interventions designed to help prevent negative outcomes. Additionally, this project will contribute to conservation and education at the research site and surrounding areas, through frequent presentations to local community members, tourists, and park management officials. The co-PI will also continue to mentor undergraduate women in the laboratory throughout her dissertation.When faced with adversity, mammalian mothers have fewer resources to invest in their offspring. These mothers also experience higher levels of “stress” hormones. These hormones, through the placenta and breastmilk, can reach the offspring and indicate the mother’s divestment, potentially leading to adjusted offspring development in response to these signals. There are two possible adjustments that can occur in offspring: 1) a delay in all aspects of development, or 2) trade-offs in development, for example favoring growth over investment in the immune system. Using non-invasive fecal hormone samples, this project will first identify the social and ecological factors of the environment that result in higher maternal stress hormones. Next, using behavioral observations, the researchers will examine if maternal stress levels impact maternal behavior towards their offspring. Lastly, the researchers will non-invasively assess four aspects of offspring development (growth rate, motor skill acquisition, time to independence, and immune function) to determine if offspring respond to maternal stress hormones by delaying all developmental markers or by making trade-offs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.