BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF THE MATERNAL/FETAL INTERACTION

这一建议解决了两个对心理健康研究很重要的问题 健康：母婴相互作用对发育的影响 行为和表达的生物的，社会的和 心理上的后果行为，母性反应。暴露量 对产前性腺类固醇激素的影响是戏剧性的后果 关于大脑和行为的发育和性别分化。 然而，胎儿也暴露在母体循环荷尔蒙中， 在分娩前经历快速和极端的变化。然而， 母体激素对胎儿发育行为的影响 完全没有被研究过。虽然性行为和性行为的发展 孕期雄激素的影响是众所周知的， 另一种关键的荷尔蒙调节的生殖行为，母性 行为，还没有得到很好的检验。这项提案的主要目的是 是为了确定母体类固醇激素的独特模式 在母性行为的发展中起着重要的作用。这个 产妇行为的优秀模型--临产大鼠，将被用于 这些研究。具体目标我将检查在产前生活中 胎儿的大脑对性腺类固醇激素变得敏感。vbl.使用 免疫细胞化学和原位杂交，将确定何时 胎儿大脑中的神经元首先开始表达类固醇激素 感受器。尽管众所周知，给孕妇服用类固醇激素 女性可以改变胎儿的发育，但目前还没有。 经验证明，母体循环中的荷尔蒙 胎儿的大脑。特殊目标II将使用类固醇激素放射自显影 确定母体循环中放射性标记的类固醇激素是否可以 穿过胎盘和胎儿血/脑屏障与核结合 胎儿大脑中的类固醇受体。为了直接解决问题，影响 对母体妊娠激素、雌激素和孕酮的影响 母性行为的发展，具体目标III将使用一种方法 摘除卵巢的女性通过激素维持哪种妊娠？ 行政管理。通过这种方式，雌激素和孕激素的变化 通常发生在怀孕期间可以被模仿和操纵。这个 这些手法对母性行为表达的影响 成年雌性后代将接受检查。这些研究的结果 实验将提供对母体的重要性的洞察 环境对行为的发展是心理健康的关键， 产妇护理。

This proposal addresses two issues important to the study of mental health: the effects of the maternal/fetal interaction on the development of behavior and the expression of a biologically, socially and psychologically consequential behavior, maternal responsiveness. Exposure to gonadal steroid hormones during prenatal life has dramatic consequences on the development and sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior. However, fetuses are also exposed to maternal circulating hormones which undergo rapid and extreme changes prior to parturition. Yet, the developmental behavioral effects of fetal exposure to maternal hormones remains completely unstudied. While the development of sexual behavior and the effects of prenatal androgens is well understood, the development of another critical hormonally-mediated reproductive behavior, maternal behavior, has not been well examined. The main objective of this proposal is to determine whether the unique pattern of maternal steroid hormones plays a significant role in the development of maternal behavior. The excellent model of maternal behavior, the parturient rat, will be used in these studies. Specific Aim I will examine when during prenatal life the fetal brain becomes sensitive to gonadal steroid hormones. Using immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization, it will be determined when neurons in the fetal brain first begin to express steroid hormone receptors. Although it is known that steroid hormones given to pregnant females can alter the development of the fetus, it has yet to be demonstrated empirically that hormones in the maternal circulation enter the fetal brain. Specific Aim II will use steroid hormone autoradiography to determine if radiolabelled steroid hormones in maternal circulation can cross the placenta and the fetal blood/brain barrier to bind to nuclear steroid receptors within the fetal brain. To address directly, the effects of the maternal pregnancy hormones, estrogen and progesterone on the development of maternal behavior, Specific Aim III will use a method in which pregnancy is maintained in an ovariectomized female by hormone administration. In this way, the changes in estrogen and progesterone that normally occur during pregnancy can be mimicked and manipulated. The effects of these manipulations on the expression of maternal behavior in the adult, female offspring will be examined. The results from these experiments will provide insight as to the importance of the maternal environment on the development of a behavior that is key to mental health, maternal care.