OBJECTIVE The relationship between maternal attitude to the infant at 6 months of age and behavioural outcomes at 5 years is explored, controlling for numerous demographic, child and psychosocial family factors. METHOD Data was used from the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy, an Australian longitudinal study of over 7000 mothers and children followed from pregnancy to when the children were...

Research in developmental psychopathology has advanced our understanding of emotional dysregulation underlying children’s behavioural problems and their association with maternal depression. Neurophysiological measures may further clarify these relations. The ERN (errorrelated negativity) is an event-related potential commonly used to assess self-monitoring, with large amplitudes reflecting int...

A combination of ovarian grafting and fostering was used to study the effects of preand postnatal maternal factors on adult behaviour. Inbred mice (BALB/c and C57BL/6) and F1 hybrids were compared to assess differential sensitivity to early maternal effects. In addition to the peculiar behavioural profile of BALB mice, results revealed the existence of a cognitive process in mice and confirmed ...

In reptiles, the thermal environment during embryonic development affects offspring phenotypic traits and potentially offspring fitness. In viviparous species, mothers can potentially manipulate the embryonic thermal environment through their basking behaviour and, thus, may be able to manipulate offspring phenotype and increase offspring fitness. One way in which mothers can maximise offspring...

Solicitation signals by offspring are well known to influence parental behaviour, and it is commonly assumed that this behavioural effect translates into an effect on residual reproduction of parents. However, this equivalence assumption concerning behavioural and reproductive effects caused by offspring signals remains largely untested. Here, we tested the effect of a chemical offspring signal...

The time around birth is accompanied by behavioural and physiological adaptations of the maternal brain, which ensure reproductive functions, maternal care and the survival of the offspring. In addition, profound neuroendocrine and neurobiological adaptations have been described with respect to behavioural and neuroendocrine stress responsiveness in rodents and human mothers. Thus, the hormonal...

Maternal overnutrition and obesity during pregnancy can have long-term effects on offspring physiology and behaviour. These developmental programming effects may be mediated by fetal exposure to glucocorticoids, which is regulated in part by placental 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) type 1 and 2. We tested whether a maternal high-fat, high-sucrose diet would alter expression of place...

Maternal effects, where the conditions experienced by mothers affect the phenotype of their offspring, are widespread in nature and have the potential to influence population dynamics. However, they are very rarely included in models of population dynamics. Here, we investigate a recently discovered maternal effect, where maternal food availability affects the feeding rate of offspring so that ...

Adverse events early in life, including maternal separation and social isolation, profoundly affect brain development and adult behaviour and may contribute to the occurrence of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and mood disorders in genetically predisposed individuals. The molecular mechanisms underlying these environmentally induced developmental adaptations are unclear and best eva...