PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

How early trauma influences behavior

2014-12-01
(Press-News.org) This news release is available in German.

Traumatic events leave their mark. People exposed to a traumatic experience early in life are more likely to be affected by illnesses such as borderline personality disorder or depression. However such experience can also have positive effects in certain circumstances. Thus, moderate stress in childhood may help a person develop strategies to better cope with stress in adulthood.

Further, it has long been recognised by psychologists and psychiatrists that the negative effects of trauma experienced by parents can be seen in their children, but the molecular mechanisms underlying such transmission are only beginning to be identified. A research team led by Isabelle Mansuy, Professor of Neuroepigenetics at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, has for the first time tested in mice the degree to which the beneficial effects of stress can be passed to following generations.

Flexible and goal-oriented in critical situations

The researchers subjected newborn male mice to traumatic stress by removing them from their mother at irregular and frequent intervals and by severely stressing the mothers in addition. They then used tests to analyse the behaviour of these pups when adult and their offspring in comparison to control mice not subjected to stress. They observed that the offspring of the stressed mice handled complex tasks more efficiently than the control group.

For example, one test revealed that the offspring of stressed fathers adapted better to changing rules on a task to earn a drink reward when they were thirsty. They reacted more flexibly. In another test, the mice had to poke their nose into a hole when prompted by a light signal but only after a pre-determined delay of 6, 12 or 18 seconds to get water. The stressed mice and their offspring performed the task better than the control mice at the long time interval of 18 seconds, which was especially challenging. This result was interpreted by the researchers as evidence for improved goal-oriented behaviour in difficult situations. Since the fathers were kept apart from their offspring and the mothers, the young animals cannot have learned this behaviour. Rather, they must have inherited it via molecular pathways in germ cells.

To determine how this behaviour is expressed and transmitted to the next generation, the researchers examined the activity of a gene, a mineralocorticoid receptor gene previously implicated in flexible behaviour. Mansuy's team discovered that 'epigenetic' marks, which determine how much a gene is expressed, were altered on this gene, both in the brain and sperm of the stressed mice when adult. The altered marks were passed on to the next generation probably through the sperm, and may partly be responsible for the altered behaviour. The mineralocorticoid receptor in question binds signal messengers such as the stress hormone cortisone which initiates a signalling cascade in neurons.

Help in overcoming problems

"Our results show that environmental factors change behaviour and that these changes can be passed on to the next generation," explains Mansuy. This finding - that not only a parent's susceptibility to psychological disorders can be passed on to its offspring, but also its improved goal-oriented behaviour in difficult situations - might prove to be of value to the clinic. Doctors could help post-trauma patients suffering from depression to build on these sorts of strength. The implication of the mineralocorticoid receptor gene could also be a good starting point for potential future medical therapies.

"We are not in any way suggesting that early-childhood trauma is somehow positive," says Mansuy. But she adds that her study on mice demonstrates how extreme stress can positively or negatively affect the brain and behaviour across generations.

INFORMATION:

Literature reference

Gapp K, Soldado-Magraner S, Alvarez-Sánchez M, Bohacek J, Vernaz G, Shu H, Franklin TB, Wolfer D, Mansuy IM: Early life stress in fathers improves behavioural flexibility in their offspring. Nature Communications, 18. November 2014. doi: 10.1038/ncomms6466



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Supplemental co-enzyme Q may prevent heart disease in some individuals

2014-12-01
New research involving rats, and published in the December 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal, suggests that if you were born at a low birth weight, supplemental co-enzyme Q (CoQ) may lower your risk for heart disease. This enzyme, which is naturally made in the body, is required to ensure the proper functioning of cell mitochondria and also protects cells from oxidative damage. Feeding low birth weight rat offspring extra CoQ prevented the age-associated damage that causes heart disease. Additionally, the reports shows that CoQ is reduced in white blood cells from low birth ...

NASA's Terra Satellite catches fast-developing Tropical Storm Hagupit

NASAs Terra Satellite catches fast-developing Tropical Storm Hagupit
2014-12-01
Tropical Storm Hagupit was just a low pressure area on Nov. 30, but warm waters and good atmospheric conditions allowed the storm to develop rapidly. By Dec. 1 the low pressure area strengthened into a tropical storm when NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Radiometer known as the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Hagupit in the western Pacific Ocean on Dec. 1 at 00:05 UTC (7:05 p.m. EST, Nov. 30). The picture showed a concentration of strong thunderstorms around the ...

NYU researchers find silver lining playbook for performance

2014-12-01
If we believe a negative trait we possess is linked to a related positive characteristic, we will be more productive in that domain, New York University researchers have found. Their study, which appears in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, establishes a novel "silver lining theory": negative attributes can produce positive results. "People know that a weakness can be also be a strength, but these results show that if we actually believe it, we can use these beliefs to our advantage," says Alexandra Wesnousky, an NYU doctoral candidate and the study's lead ...

Scanning tunneling microscopy: Computer simulations sharpen insights into molecules

Scanning tunneling microscopy: Computer simulations sharpen insights into molecules
2014-12-01
This news release is available in German. Jülich, 27 November 2014 - The resolution of scanning tunnelling microscopes can be improved dramatically by attaching small molecules or atoms to their tip. The resulting images were the first to show the geometric structure of molecules and have generated a lot of interest among scientists over the last few years. Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague have now used computer simulations to gain deeper insights into the physics of these new imaging techniques. ...

Revolutionizing genome engineering

Revolutionizing genome engineering
2014-12-01
This news release is available in German. Genome engineering with the RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas9 system in animals and plants is changing biology. It is easier to use and more efficient than other genetic engineering tools, thus it is already being applied in laboratories all over the world just a few years after its discovery. This rapid adoption and the history of the system are the core topics of a review published in the renowned journal Science. The review was written by the discoverers of the system Prof. Emmanuelle Charpentier, who works at the Helmholtz Centre ...

Girls better than boys at making story-based computer games, Sussex study finds

Girls better than boys at making story-based computer games, Sussex study finds
2014-12-01
Teenage boys are perhaps more known for playing computer games but girls are better at making them, a University of Sussex study has found. Researchers in the University's Informatics department asked pupils at a secondary school to design and program their own computer game using a new visual programming language that shows pupils the computer programs they have written in plain English. Dr Kate Howland and Dr Judith Good found that the girls in the classroom wrote more complex programs in their games than the boys and also learnt more about coding compared to the ...

The emergence of modern sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, 2.6 million years ago

The emergence of modern sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, 2.6 million years ago
2014-12-01
"We have not seen an ice free period in the Arctic Ocean for 2,6 million years. However, we may see it in our lifetime." says marine geologist Jochen Knies. In an international collaborative project, Knies has studied the historic emergence of the ice in the Arctic Ocean. The results are published in Nature Communications. The extent of sea ice cover in Arctic was much less than it is today between four and five million years ago. The maximum winter extent did not reaching its current location until around 2.6 million years ago. This new knowledge can now be used to ...

New substance overcomes treatment-restistance in leukemia

2014-12-01
This news release is available in German. FRANKFURT The chances of patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukaemia (Ph+) being cured has greatly increased in recent years. Nevertheless, a high percentage of patients have developed resistance to available medication. But now, haematologists from Frankfurt, working with a Russian pharmaceutical company, have developed a new active substance that effectively combats the most aggressive forms of Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukaemia, both in vitro and in vivo. They have reported this in the current edition ...

NASA satellite sees Tropical Storm Sinlaku in the South China Sea

NASA satellite sees Tropical Storm Sinlaku in the South China Sea
2014-12-01
Tropical Depression 21W crossed the Philippines and moved into the South China Sea where warm waters helped strengthen the storm into Tropical Storm Sinlaku. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the storm and captured an image that showed it appeared elongated. Despite the strengthening of Tropical Depression 21W into a tropical storm on Nov. 28, it appeared elongated from southwest to northeast on visible imagery taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard Aqua. The MODIS image also showed that the strongest thunderstorms ...

NASA sees new tropical storm threatening Mauritius and Reunion Islands

NASA sees new tropical storm threatening Mauritius and Reunion Islands
2014-12-01
NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone 02S after it formed in the Southern Indian Ocean on Nov. 28. An image from Terra showed that the new tropical storm is close to Mauritius and Reunion Islands. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of newborn Tropical Cyclone 02S northeast of the islands of Mauritius and Reunion. The MODIS image showed that thunderstorms were mostly west of the low-level center of circulation and bands of thunderstorms were wrapping into the center. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Research alert: Bacterial chatter slows wound healing

American Society of Anesthesiologists names Patrick Giam, M.D., FASA, new president

High-entropy alloy nanozyme ROS biocatalyst treating tendinopathy via up-regulation of PGAM5/FUNDC1/GPX4 pathway

SwRI’s Dr. Pablo Bueno named AIAA Associate Fellow

Astronomers detect radio signals from a black hole tearing apart a star – outside a galactic center

Locking carbon in trees and soils could help ‘stabilize climate for centuries’ – but only if combined with underground storage

New research shows a tiny, regenerative worm could change our understanding of healing

Australia’s rainforests first to switch from carbon sink to source

First-trimester mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and risk of major congenital anomalies

Glucose-lowering medication classes and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes

Rising seas and sinking cities signal a coastal crisis in China

Discovery of hundreds of new human gut viruses provides a new approach to studying the gut microbiome

Study indicates dramatic increase in percentage of US adults who meet new definition of obesity

Astrocytes are superstars in the game of long-term memory

WSU study finds positive framing can steer shoppers toward premium products

Study finds ending universal free school meals linked to rising student meal debt and stigma

Innovations in organoid engineering: Construction methods, model development, and clinical translation

Rescheduling coca: Aligning global drug policy with science, tradition, and indigenous rights

BIOFAIR roadmap for an integrated biological and environmental data network

SwRI, 8 Rivers patent more cost-effective, efficient power generation system with liquid oxygen storage

A sacred leaf on trial: Scientists urge WHO to support decriminalizing coca

World’s largest superconducting fusion system will use American technology to measure the plasma within

Mount Sinai receives $4.5 million NIH award to launch a pioneering women’s environmental health research training program

Strong grip strength may protect against obesity-related complications

How to double lung cancer screening rates

Researchers ‘zoom’ in for an ultra-magnified peek at shark skin

AI system finds crucial clues for diagnoses in electronic health records

Gut microbiota disruption predicts severe steatosis in MASLD patients

WSU project reduces hospitalizations among home health-care patients

Rain in the Sahara? UIC researchers predict a wetter future for the desert

[Press-News.org] How early trauma influences behavior