Unraveling sex differences in maternal and paternal care impacts on social behaviors and neurobiological responses to early-life adversity.

Early-life stress (ELS) affects the development of prosocial behaviors and social-cognitive function, often leading to structural brain changes and increased psychosocial disorders. Recent studies suggest that mother- and father-child relationships independently influence social development in a sex-specific manner, but the effects of impaired father-child relationships are often overlooked. This review examines preclinical rodent studies to explore how parental neglect impacts neuroplasticity and social behaviors in offspring.

Microglia contribute to mammary tumor-induced neuroinflammation in a female mouse model.

Following diagnosis but before treatment, up to 30% of breast cancer patients report behavioral side effects (e.g., anxiety, depression, memory impairment).

The role of microglia in 67NR mammary tumor-induced suppression of brain responses to immune challenges in female mice.

It is poorly understood how solid peripheral tumors affect brain neuroimmune responses despite the various brain-mediated side effects and higher rates of infection reported in cancer patients. We hypothesized that chronic low-grade peripheral tumor-induced inflammation conditions microglia to drive suppression of neuroinflammatory responses to a subsequent peripheral immune challenge. Here, Balb/c murine mammary tumors attenuated the microglial inflammatory gene expression responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and live Escherichia coli (E.

Paternal deprivation induces vigilance-avoidant behavior and accompanies sex-specific alterations in stress reactivity and central proinflammatory cytokine response in California mice (Peromyscus californicus).

Rationale: Early-life stress (ELS) can increase anxiety, reduce prosocial behaviors, and impair brain regions that facilitate emotional and social development. This knowledge greatly stems from assessing disrupted mother-child relationships, while studies investigating the long-term effects of father-child relationships on behavioral development in children are scarce. However, available evidence suggests that fathers may uniquely influence a child's behavioral development in a sex-specific manner.

A sex difference in mouse dopaminergic projections from the midbrain to basolateral amygdala.

Background: Dopaminergic circuits play important roles in the motivational control of behavior and dysfunction in dopaminergic circuits have been implicated in several psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression. While these disorders exhibit different incidence rates in men and women, the potential sex differences in the underlying neural circuits are not well-understood. Previous anatomical tracing studies in mammalian species have revealed a prominent circuit projection connecting the dopaminergic midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA), which is involved in emotional processing and associative learning.

Sex-specific effects of neonatal paternal deprivation on microglial cell density in adult California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) dentate gyrus.

Adverse early-life experiences are risk factors for psychiatric disease development, resulting in stress-related neuronal modeling and neurobehavioral changes. Stressful experiences modulate the immune system, contributing to neuronal damage in higher cortical regions, like the hippocampus. Moreover, early-life stressors dysregulate the function of microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, in the developing hippocampus.

Comparative anatomical analysis of dopamine systems in Mus musculus and Peromyscus californicus.

Dopamine plays important roles in motivational and social behaviors in mammals, and it has been implicated in several human neurological and psychiatric disorders. Rodents are used extensively as experimental models to study dopamine function in health and disease. However, interspecies differences of dopamine systems remain incompletely characterized.

Cortisol Reactivity and Observed Parenting among Mothers of Children with and without ADHD.

Objective: Neurobiological models suggest links between maternal cortisol reactivity and parenting; however, no studies have examined cortisol reactivity and parenting in mothers of school-age children with ADHD.

Method: We examined the relationship between observed parenting and maternal cortisol reactivity in two laboratory contexts: the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and parenting-child interaction (PCI). Mothers of children with ( = 24) and without ( = 36) ADHD participated.

Hormones and neuroplasticity: A lifetime of adaptive responses.

Major life transitions often co-occur with significant fluctuations in hormones that modulate the central nervous system. These hormones enact neuroplastic mechanisms that prepare an organism to respond to novel environmental conditions and/or previously unencountered cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioral demands. In this review, we will explore several examples of how hormones mediate neuroplastic changes in order to produce adaptive responses, particularly during transitions in life stages.

Reducing the Impact of Anti-Vaccine Propaganda on Family Health.

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper from the University of Southampton discusses strategies to enhance Covid-19 and other vaccine uptake among some families and groups in society who are adversely influenced by so called anti-vaxxers.

Celebrating the Contribution of Florence Nightingale to Contemporary Nursing.

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses how Florence Nightingale and her contemporaries launched a new and worldwide profession.

Protecting Children with Long-Term Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses what can be done to protect certain groups of children with long-term health conditions from catching SARS-Cov-2 disease caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Furthermore, it is now being reported that a number of children appear to be reacting to the new coronavirus by developing a multisystem hyperinflammatory state with similar symptoms to that seen in toxic shock syndrome and which necessitates intensive care (Campbell & Sample, 2020).