Institute for Cognitive Science, Seoul National University
Abstract
It has been well known that stress exerts profound influences on
physiological and behavioral consequences in later life. It remains,
however, unknown whether maternal stress may affect fetal
development and brain functions of adult offspring that was born
from stressed mother and reared in a normal environment. In the
present study, we showed that maternal stress increased fetal abortion
rate up to 30%, decreased body weights of fetuses and neonates, and
delayed fetal limb and somite development. Adult mice born from
stressed mother have reduction in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)
receptor mediated hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) induced
by tetanic stimulation with high frequency (100 Hz) or tetraethylammonium
(TEA). They also showed impairment in NMDA receptor
mediated excitatoη post-synaptic current (EPSC) determined by
whole cell patch clamp recording. Morris water maze test and passive
fear avoidance test indicated that spatial learning and memory and
fear avoid response were impaired in maternally stressed adult
offspring even when they were grown in a normal environment.
These results suggest that maternal stress reprograms the fetal
development and leads to irreversible malfunctions of the brain even
in adulthood