BIOLOGICAL IMPRINT OF CHILDHOOD NEGLECT

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。确定儿童在建立社会纽带和调节情绪行为方面起关键作用的荷尔蒙是否受到他们早期社会经历的影响。社会依恋的形成是人际关系的重要组成部分。婴儿从出生的那一刻起就开始与他们的照顾者建立联系，这些社会联系在成年后继续提供调节情绪的功能。很难考察社会经验与这些复杂行为的生物起源之间的相互作用，因为儿童在经历大脑发育的同时，也积累了社会经验。我们有一个难得的机会来研究那些在极端反常的社会环境中长大的孩子，在那里他们被剥夺了我们人类典型的那种照顾。目前在自然界的实验为早期经验在情绪行为发展的大脑系统中所扮演的角色提供了洞察力。这些数据表明，在建立社会纽带和调节情绪行为中起关键作用的加压素和催产素神经肽系统受到早期社会经验的影响。这项实验的结果表明了一种潜在的机制，其非典型功能可以解释在许多经历过异常照顾的儿童中观察到的普遍的社交和情绪困难。目前的发现与这样一种观点是一致的，即早期经验在人类社会行为基本方面的大脑系统发育中起着关键作用。这项研究使用了由WNPRC Assay Services开发的技术。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. To determine whether hormones critical in the establishment of social bonds and regulation of emotional behaviors in children are affected by their early social experiences. The formation of social attachments is a critical component of human relationships. Infants begin to bond to their caregivers from the moment of birth, and these social bonds continue to provide regulatory emotional functions throughout adulthood. It is difficult to examine the interactions between social experience and the biological origins of these complex behaviors because children undergo both brain development and accumulate social experience at the same time. We had a rare opportunity to examine children who were reared in extremely aberrant social environments where they were deprived of the kind of care-giving typical for our species. The present experiment in nature provides insight into the role of early experience on the brain systems underlying the development of emotional behavior. These data indicate that the vasopressin and oxytocin neuropeptide systems, which are critical in the establishment of social bonds and the regulation of emotional behaviors, are affected by early social experience. The results of this experiment suggest a potential mechanism whose atypical function may explain the pervasive social and emotional difficulties observed in many children who have experienced aberrant care-giving. The present findings are consistent with the view that there is a critical role for early experience in the development of the brain systems underlying basic aspects of human social behavior. This research used techniques developed by WNPRC Assay Services.