Researchers found that when female mice are exposed to stressful situations early in pregnancy – such as being placed in unfamiliar surroundings, changing cages multiple times in a day, or smelling the body odour of a predator – their male offspring are more sensitive to stress in the womb than females.
This increased sensitivity to stress and behaviour displayed may be similar to aspects of developmental brain disease in humans.
Stress in the womb is known to increase the risk of disease in offspring, including autism, schizophrenia, anxiety, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Understanding the connection between the mother’s changing environment and the long-term impact on offspring disease susceptibility may help to develop new therapeutic treatments or preventions.
As adults, these males also presented with smaller testes and lower testosterone levels, indicating an impact of the mother’s stress on their fetal development. Interestingly, these effects were also passed on to the next generation – from father to son.
The findings by the University of Pennsylvania will be presented at the Parental Brain conference organised by Edinburgh University.
