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

在生命的早期，有机体从母亲那里获得有关环境的线索，特别是她的激素。但是后代如何对这些信号做出反应还不完全清楚。这个博士论文项目将研究早期生活环境和母亲的“压力”激素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低，这反过来又预示着生命后期的不良生理状态。通过研究野生灵长类动物，这项研究将有助于确定为什么这些联系存在，并可以为旨在帮助预防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，为研究地点和周边地区的保护和教育做出贡献。共同首席研究员也将继续在她的论文中指导实验室的本科女性。当面临逆境时，哺乳动物母亲在后代身上投资的资源较少。这些母亲也会经历更高水平的“压力”激素。这些激素，通过胎盘和母乳，可以到达后代，并表明母亲的撤资，可能导致调整后代的发展，以回应这些信号。有两种可能的调整可能发生在后代身上：1）发育的所有方面都有所延迟，或者2）发育中的权衡，例如更倾向于生长而不是对免疫系统的投资。使用非侵入性粪便激素样本，该项目将首先确定导致母体应激激素较高的环境的社会和生态因素。接下来，通过行为观察，研究人员将研究母亲的压力水平是否会影响母亲对后代的行为。最后，研究人员将非侵入性地评估后代发育的四个方面（生长率、运动技能获得、独立时间，和免疫功能），以确定后代是否通过延迟所有发育标志物或通过进行交易来对母体应激激素做出反应-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

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.