Psychobiology of Parenting and Development

描述(申请人提供)：自然发生的母性虐待 在群居猴子中的后代可能是最接近 非人类动物提供的虐待儿童行为。猴子对婴儿的虐待 提供了系统地调查长期 在相对较短的时间内这种不利经历的发展后果 和侵入性测量，这将很难在 人类。这个为期5年的项目有两个主要目标：调查 遗传变量和经验变量在代际变量中的贡献 虐待婴儿在恒河猴身上的传播，以及纵向传播 调查虐待育儿对社会发展的影响，以及 对压力的生物行为反应。具体目标包括：(1)调查 母猴的母性行为及其神经生物学相关性 在出生时在虐待和非虐待的母亲之间交叉养育； 调查15名受虐婴儿和15名非受虐婴儿的社会发育情况 出生到成年，(3)调查行为对压力和 应激敏感神经内分泌和神经化学系统的活性 五年期间受虐待和未受虐待的婴儿，包括活动 下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺皮质(FJPA)轴和脑脊髓 几种单胺、多肽或其代谢物的液体浓度 在基础条件下和紧随其后的压力挑战下；(4)调查 施虐者与非施虐者几个脑区的神经解剖 3岁和4岁进行结构磁共振成像(MRI)检查； (5)研究相关激素和神经递质的基因表达 在HPA轴活性和脑内激素受体结合的5个滥用和 5个未受虐待的5岁儿童。这项研究将提供重要的 关于虐待婴儿的传播机制的新信息 在猴子身上代代相传。这项研究还将产生大量的 关于行为、神经内分泌和神经解剖学的信息 发展受虐待和未受虐待的个人。这类信息可能 显著增强了我们对早期 暴露在虐待父母或其他创伤经历中会导致 发育性精神变态。最后，这项研究还可以阐明 脆弱性或韧性的个体差异背后的机制 对早年虐待的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The natural occurrence of maternal abuse of offspring in group-living monkeys is probably the closest approximation to child maltreatment provided by nonhuman animals. Infant abuse in monkeys provides the opportunity to systematically investigate the long-term developmental consequences of this adverse experience in a relatively short period of time and with invasive measurements that would be difficult to use in humans. This 5-year project has two main aims: to investigate the relative contribution of genetic and experiential variables in the intergenerational transmission of infant abuse in rhesus monkeys, and to longitudinally investigate the consequences of abusive parenting for social development, and biobehavioral reactivity to stress. Specific aims include: (1) to investigate maternal behavior and its neurobiological correlates among female monkeys that were cross-fostered at birth between abusive and nonabusive mothers; (2) to investigate the social development of 15 abused and 15 nonabused infants from birth to adulthood, (3) to investigate the behavioral reactivity to stress and the activity of stress sensitive neuroendocrine and neurochemical systems in abused and nonabused infants over a period of 5 years, including the activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (FJPA) axis and the cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of several monoamines, peptides, or their metabolites under basal conditions and following stressful challenges; (4) to investigate the neuroanatomy of several brain areas in abused and nonabused individuals at 3 and 4 years of age with structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies; (5) to investigate gene expression for hormones and neurotransmitters involved in HPA axis activity and hormone receptor binding in the brain of 5 abused and 5 nonabused individuals at 5 years of age. This research will provide important new information about the mechanisms through which infant abuse is transmitted across generations in monkeys. This research will also produce a large amount of information on the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neuroanatomical development of abused and nonabused individuals. Such information could significantly enhance our understanding of the mechanisms by which early exposure to abusive parenting or other traumatic experiences result in developmental psychopathologies. Finally, this research could also elucidate the mechanisms underlying individual differences in vulnerability or resilience to the effects of early abuse.