The Influence of Parental Experience On Brain Development, Behaviour, and Neuroplasticity

行为神经科学中的一个基本问题与大脑如何发展以产生我们成年后复杂的运动，社交和认知能力有关。 现在很清楚，大脑的发育并不遵循蓝图，而是新生的大脑通过孕前、产前和产后的经历塑造成一个能做奇妙事情的大脑。 但并不是所有的大脑都是一样的，有显着的差异性，从辉煌到不太理想的outcomes.Having证明，积极和消极的经验，在不同的时间可以影响大脑和行为的发展，我建议系统地检查这些经验的影响，在几个发展的时间点，包括孕前（父亲和母亲），妊娠（母亲），围产期，和青春期。* 短期目标：*1。在孕前和产前暴露于父母（母亲或父亲）经历的后代的终身行为结果的表征。.*** 2.在孕前和产前暴露于父母（母亲或父亲）经历的后代的神经解剖学结果的表征。3.在孕前和产前时期，根据父母（母亲或父亲）的经历，对后代大脑和父母生殖系（精子和卵子）进行表观遗传分析。长期目标：1。 研究父母的经验与后代在围产期或青春期的经验之间的相互作用。2.研究母亲和父亲的经验如何在交配或怀孕期间相互作用，以影响后代的大脑发育。3.确定父亲或母亲经历（如酒精暴露）的负面行为和解剖学影响是否可以通过膳食补充剂、触觉刺激或暴露父母的复合住房逆转，或者早期积极经历的影响是否可以通过负面经历（压力、药物）逆转。* 拟议研究的总体目标是了解描述大脑可塑性的“规则”及其与发育中行为的关系。 人们对产前知识知之甚少，包括对大脑发育的孕前经历。 因此，我们的贡献已经解决了父亲的孕前经验和“积极”和“消极”的产前（孕前和妊娠）的经验对后代的结果的影响，研究很少的领域。 通过使用从发育期到成年期的行为分析，我们对产前或孕前的相同经历如何改变对后代大脑发育的影响以及在发育过程中不同时间观察到的行为结果有了新的见解。 我们寻求更好地了解大脑发育的本质以及经验如何相互作用以促进神经可塑性和行为。 **

One of the fundamental questions in behavioural neuroscience relates to how the brain develops to produce our complex motor, social, and cognitive abilities in adulthood. It is now clear that brain development does not follow a blueprint but rather the nascent brain is sculpted by preconception, prenatal, and postnatal experiences to produce a brain that can do marvelous things. But not all brains are the same and there is remarkable variability ranging from brilliance to less than optimal outcomes.Having demonstrated that both positive and negative experiences at different times can influence brain and behavioral development, I propose to systematically examine the effects of such experiences at several developmental time points including preconception (both sires and dams), gestational (dams), perinatal, and adolescence. ***Short term objectives: ***1. Characterization of the lifelong behavioral outcomes of offspring exposed to parental (maternal or paternal) experiences in the preconception and prenatal periods. .***2. Characterization of neuroanatomical outcomes of offspring exposed to parental (maternal or paternal) experiences in the preconception and prenatal periods.***3. Epigenetic analyses of offspring brain and parental germlines (sperm and ova) following parental (maternal or paternal) experiences in the preconception and prenatal periods.***Long Term Objectives: 1. To study the interaction of parental experience with later offspring experience either in the perinatal period or in adolescence.***2. To study how maternal and paternal experiences interact at mating or during gestation to affect brain development in offspring.***3. To determine whether the negative behavioral and anatomical effects of paternal or maternal experiences such as alcohol exposure can be reversed with dietary supplements, tactile stimulation, or complex-housing in the exposed parent or whether the effects of early positive experiences can be reversed by negative experiences (stress, drugs). ***The overall goal of the proposed studies is to understand the “rules” that describe cerebral plasticity and its relation to behavior in development. Little is known about prenatal, including preconception experiences on brain development. Thus, our contributions have addressed the sparsely studied domains of paternal preconception experience and influence of both “positive” and “negative” prenatal (preconception and gestational) experience on offspring outcomes. By using behavioral analyses that span the developmental period to adulthood we have made new insights into how the same experience in either the prenatal or preconception period have altered impacts on offspring brain development and observed behavioral outcomes at different times during development. We seek to better understand the nature of brain development and how experiences interact to contribute to neuroplasticity and behavior. **