Perinatal Psychoneuroimmunology: Protocols for the Study of Prenatal Stress and Its Effects on Fetal and Postnatal Brain Development.

Prenatal stress (PS) impacts early behavioral, neuroimmune, and cognitive development. Pregnant rat models have been very valuable in examining the mechanisms of such fetal programming. A newer pregnant sheep model of maternal stress offers the unique advantages of chronic in utero monitoring and manipulation. This chapter presents the techniques used to model single and multigenerational stress exposures and their pleiotropic effects on the offspring.