Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY
Volume 56, Issue 8, Pages 1735-1746Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/dev.21237
Keywords
nonhuman primates; rhesus monkey; early life stress; infant maltreatment; brain development; behavioral reactivity; amygdala
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Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [MH62577, MH63097, MH065046]
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) [HD055255]
- NARSAD Young Investigator Award (MMS)
- National Center for Research Resources [P51RR165]
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This study investigated the impact of infant maltreatment on juvenile rhesus monkeys' behavioral reactivity to novel stimuli and its associations with amygdala volume. Behavioral reactivity to novel stimuli of varying threat intensity was measured using Approach/Avoidance (AA) and Human Intruder (HI) tasks. In vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure amygdala volume. Interestingly, group behavioral differences were context-dependent. When exposed to a human intruder, maltreated subjects displayed more anxious behaviors than controls; however, when presented with fear-evoking objects, maltreated animals exhibited increased aggression and a shorter latency to inspect the objects. Finally, under testing conditions with the lowest levels of threat (neutral novel objects) maltreated animals also showed shorter latencies to inspect objects, and reduced avoidance and increased exploration compared to controls. This suggests alterations in threat assessment and less behavioral inhibition in animals with early adverse experience compared to controls. Some of these behavioral responses were associated with amygdala volume, which was positively correlated with abuse rates received during infancy, particularly reflecting a relationship with exploration, consistent with previous studies. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 56: 1735-1746, 2014.
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