Importance of early lighting conditions in maternal care by dam as well as anxiety and memory later in life of offspring.

Rodent studies have revealed that the early rearing environment plays an important role in the development of stress vulnerability, memory and cognition. Although early lighting conditions (ELC) are involved in these neuronal developments through both maternal and offspring behavior, their influence has not been fully elucidated. Thus, by using Sprague-Dawley rats, we examined whether ELC affected maternal care by the dam and the subsequent neurodevelopment of the offspring.

Importance of early environment in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder-like behaviors.

A number of clinical studies in which early adversities were defined retrospectively, demonstrated that early adverse experiences increased the morbidity rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in later life. However, no prospective studies have yet been conducted to elucidate whether early adversity affects the risk or severity of PTSD. Thus, we examined whether early adversity would strengthen the severity of PTSD symptoms in later life by using neonatal isolation (NI) and single prolonged stress (SPS) as an animal model of PTSD.