Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 374, Issue 1770, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0119
Keywords
early-life effects; corticosteroid receptor; developmental plasticity; HPA/HPI axis; mifepristone; cichlids
Categories
Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [31003A_156881]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [31003A_156881] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In many vertebrate species, early social experience generates long-term effects on later life social behaviour. These effects are accompanied by persistent modifications in the expression of genes implicated in the stress axis. It is unknown, however, whether stress axis programming can affect the development of social competence, and if so, by which mechanism(s). Here, we used pharmacological manipulations to persistently reprogramme the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis of juvenile cooperatively breeding cichlids, Neolamprologus pulcher. During the first two months of life, juveniles were repeatedly treated with cortisol, mifepristone or control treatments. Three months after the last manipulation, we tested for treatment effects on (i) social competence, (ii) the expression of genes coding for corticotropin-releasing factor (crf), glucocorticoid receptor (gr1) and mineralocorticoid receptor (mr) in the telencephalon and hypothalamus and (iii) cortisol levels. Social competence in a social challenge was reduced in cortisol-treated juveniles, which is in accordance with previous work applying early-life manipulations using different social experiences. During early life, both cortisol and mifepristone treatments induced a persistent downregulation of crf and upregulation of mr in the telencephalon. We suggest that these persistent changes in stress gene expression may represent an effective physiological mechanism for coping with stress. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available