Investigating the effects of ancestral stress, environmental enrichment and the concept of allostatic load
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Date
2016
Authors
McCreary, J. Keiko
University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Lethbridge, Alta : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Neuroscience
Abstract
The stress that our ancestors experienced resonates with us in their stories, and
memoires, but does it affect our health? In this thesis, the impact of ancestral stress on
offspring was investigated. We hypothesized that ancestral stress has a significant impact
on the development of the stress response, neuromorphology, and behaviour. Moreover,
as stress is multi-systematic in its effects, this study examined the use of a new
stratification tool termed the cumulative animal allostatic load index (CAALM). In
addition, we tested the influence of postnatal enriched environment (EE) on ancestral
stress-induced deficits. Lastly, we investigated a “two-hit hypothesis” of maternal stress
and inflammation on offspring development. Overall, results indicate that ancestral stress
is transferred across generations and increases allostatic load, and EE reverses detrimental
effects. Moreover, inflammation exacerbates the effect of stress. Altogether, our results
shed light on the influence of maternal and ancestral health on offspring development and
the benefit of EE.
Description
Keywords
allostatic load , ancestral stress , enriched environment , inflammation , maternal stress , offspring development