Maternal separation produces lasting changes in cortisol and behavior in rhesus monkeys

Maternal separation (MS), which can lead to hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities in rhesus monkeys, is frequently used to model early adversity. Whether this deleterious effect on monkeys is reversible by later experience is unknown. In this study, we assessed...

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Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2011-08, Vol.108 (34), p.14312-14317
Main Authors: Feng, Xiaoli, Wang, Lina, Yang, Shangchuan, Qin, Dongdong, Wang, Jianhong, Li, Chunlu, Lv, Longbao, Ma, Yuanye, Hu, Xintian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animals
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Biological Sciences
Blood
Blood plasma
Female
Hair
Hair - metabolism
Hydrocortisone - blood
Hydrocortisone - metabolism
Infants
Locomotion
Locomotion - physiology
Macaca mulatta - blood
Macaca mulatta - physiology
Monkeys
Monkeys & apes
Mothers
Plasma
Primates
Social life
Stress, Psychological - blood
Stress, Psychological - physiopathology
Time Factors
Time windows
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Summary:Maternal separation (MS), which can lead to hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities in rhesus monkeys, is frequently used to model early adversity. Whether this deleterious effect on monkeys is reversible by later experience is unknown. In this study, we assessed the basal hair cortisol in rhesus monkeys after 1.5 and 3 y of normal social life following an early separation. These results showed that peer-reared monkeys had significantly lower basal hair cortisol levels than the mother-reared monkeys at both years examined. The plasma cortisol was assessed in the monkeys after 1.5 y of normal social life, and the results indicated that the peak in the peer-reared cortisol response to acute stressors was substantially delayed. In addition, after 3 y of normal social life, abnormal behavioral patterns were identified in the peer-reared monkeys. They showed decreases in locomotion and initiated sitting together, as well as increases in stereotypical behaviors compared with the mother-reared monkeys. These results demonstrate that the deleterious effects of MS on rhesus monkeys cannot be compensated by a later normal social life, suggesting that the effects of MS are long-lasting and that the maternal-separated rhesus monkeys are a good animal model to study early adversity and to investigate the development of psychiatric disorders induced by exposure to early adversity.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1010943108