Social Influences on Endocrine and Behavioral Responses During Development

在灵长类和其他哺乳动物物种的婴儿中，母亲的存在，而不是另一种熟悉的动物的存在，可以防止或减少对威胁条件的荷尔蒙应激反应。母亲减少压力反应的这种选择性能力似乎在青春期后消失，但其他同伴可能几乎在同一时间获得这种能力。这些正常的发育变化可能会影响物种的社会群体模式，并对理解人类如何应对压力条件有影响。在灵长类动物身上观察到的压力荷尔蒙、社会伴侣和行为之间的许多关系，在豚鼠身上也观察到了。因此，豚鼠是这些初步实验的对象。拟议的研究将：(1)详细记录从婴儿期到成年期发生的各种社交伙伴减少荷尔蒙压力反应能力的变化；(2)研究这些变化与行为发育变化和社会群体倾向之间的关系；以及(3)确定这些发育变化是否源于青春期性腺激素水平的上升。荷尔蒙对行为及其从婴儿期到成年期的发展有巨大影响。青春期是出生后所有生命中荷尔蒙变化最剧烈的时期。然而，除了性行为本身，令人惊讶的是，人们对荷尔蒙在这一重要时期对行为的影响知之甚少。拟议的研究将提供青春期荷尔蒙如何影响社会伴侣调节压力荷尔蒙和组织社会行为的能力的基本信息。研究结果将对研究人员研究社会支持如何减少生命不同阶段与压力相关的各种生理反应有价值。这项拟议的工作还将通过让本科生参与神经科学领域的职业规划来进一步推动科学教育。

In infants of primate and other mammalian species, the presence of the mother, but not another familiar animal, can prevent or reduce hormonal stress responses to threatening conditions. This selective capacity of the mother to reduce stress responses seems to disappear after puberty, but other companions may attain this ability at about the same time. These normal developmental changes may influence social grouping patterns of the species and have implications for understanding how humans cope with stressful conditions. Many of the relations between stress hormones, social partners, and behavior, observed in primates, have also been observed in guinea pigs. Therefore, guinea pigs are the subjects of these initial experiments. Proposed studies will: (1) document in detail changes that occur from infancy to adulthood in the ability of various classes of social companions to reduce hormonal stress responses; (2) examine how these changes correlate with developmental changes in behavior and social grouping tendencies; and, (3) determine if these developmental changes are due to rising levels of gonadal hormones at the time of puberty.Hormones have a huge impact on behavior and its development from infancy to adulthood. Puberty is the time of the most dramatic hormonal changes of all postnatal life. Yet with the exception of sexual behavior itself, surprisingly little is known about the effects of hormones on behavior during this important period. Proposed studies will provide basic information on how hormones of puberty influence the ability of social partners to moderate stress hormones and organize social behavior. Results will be of value to researchers examining how social support reduces various stress-related physiological responses at different portions of the life span. The proposed work will also further science education by involving undergraduate students planning careers in neuroscience.