{"title":"The impact of early life stress and schizophrenia on motor and cognitive functioning: an experimental study.","authors":"Fredrick Otieno Oginga, Thabisile Mpofana","doi":"10.3389/fnint.2023.1251387","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Early life stress (ELS) and parental psychopathology, such as schizophrenia (SZ), have been associated with altered neurobiological and behavioral outcomes later in life. Previous studies have investigated the effects of ELS and parental SZ on various aspects of behavior, however, we have studied the combined effects of these stressors and how they interact, as individuals in real-life situations may experience multiple stressors simultaneously.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ELS and schizophrenia on locomotor activity, anxiety-like behavior, exploratory tendencies, and spatial memory in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Male and female SD pups were randomly assigned to eight groups: control, ELS, schizophrenia, and ELS + schizophrenia. ELS was induced by prenatal stress (maternal stress) and maternal separation (MS) during the first 2 weeks of life, while SZ was induced by subcutaneous administration of ketamine. Behavioral tests included an open field test (OFT) for motor abilities and a Morris water maze (MWM) for cognitive abilities. ANOVA and <i>post hoc</i> Tukey tests were utilized to analyze the data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our results show that ELS and parental psychopathology had enduring effects on SZ symptoms, particularly psychomotor retardation (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The OFT revealed increased anxiety-like behavior in the ELS group (<i>p</i> = 0.023) and the parental psychopathology group (<i>p</i> = 0.017) compared to controls. The combined ELS and parental psychopathology group exhibited the highest anxiety-like behavior (<i>p</i> = 0.006). The MWM analysis indicated impaired spatial memory in the ELS group (<i>p</i> = 0.012) and the combined ELS and parental psychopathology group (<i>p</i> = 0.003) compared to controls. Significantly, the exposure to ELS resulted in a decrease in the population of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive (GFAP<sup>+</sup>) astrocytes. However, this effect was reversed by positive parental mental health.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings highlight the interactive effects of ELS and parental psychopathology on anxiety-like behavior and spatial memory in rats. ELS was linked to increased anxiety-like behavior, while SZ was associated with anhedonia-like behavior. Positive parenting augments neuroplasticity, synaptic function, and overall cognitive capacities.</p>","PeriodicalId":56016,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience","volume":"17 ","pages":"1251387"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10622780/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2023.1251387","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Early life stress (ELS) and parental psychopathology, such as schizophrenia (SZ), have been associated with altered neurobiological and behavioral outcomes later in life. Previous studies have investigated the effects of ELS and parental SZ on various aspects of behavior, however, we have studied the combined effects of these stressors and how they interact, as individuals in real-life situations may experience multiple stressors simultaneously.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ELS and schizophrenia on locomotor activity, anxiety-like behavior, exploratory tendencies, and spatial memory in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats.
Methods: Male and female SD pups were randomly assigned to eight groups: control, ELS, schizophrenia, and ELS + schizophrenia. ELS was induced by prenatal stress (maternal stress) and maternal separation (MS) during the first 2 weeks of life, while SZ was induced by subcutaneous administration of ketamine. Behavioral tests included an open field test (OFT) for motor abilities and a Morris water maze (MWM) for cognitive abilities. ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests were utilized to analyze the data.
Results: Our results show that ELS and parental psychopathology had enduring effects on SZ symptoms, particularly psychomotor retardation (p < 0.05). The OFT revealed increased anxiety-like behavior in the ELS group (p = 0.023) and the parental psychopathology group (p = 0.017) compared to controls. The combined ELS and parental psychopathology group exhibited the highest anxiety-like behavior (p = 0.006). The MWM analysis indicated impaired spatial memory in the ELS group (p = 0.012) and the combined ELS and parental psychopathology group (p = 0.003) compared to controls. Significantly, the exposure to ELS resulted in a decrease in the population of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive (GFAP+) astrocytes. However, this effect was reversed by positive parental mental health.
Conclusion: Our findings highlight the interactive effects of ELS and parental psychopathology on anxiety-like behavior and spatial memory in rats. ELS was linked to increased anxiety-like behavior, while SZ was associated with anhedonia-like behavior. Positive parenting augments neuroplasticity, synaptic function, and overall cognitive capacities.
期刊介绍：
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research that synthesizes multiple facets of brain structure and function, to better understand how multiple diverse functions are integrated to produce complex behaviors. Led by an outstanding Editorial Board of international experts, this multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide.
Our goal is to publish research related to furthering the understanding of the integrative mechanisms underlying brain functioning across one or more interacting levels of neural organization. In most real life experiences, sensory inputs from several modalities converge and interact in a manner that influences perception and actions generating purposeful and social behaviors. The journal is therefore focused on the primary questions of how multiple sensory, cognitive and emotional processes merge to produce coordinated complex behavior. It is questions such as this that cannot be answered at a single level – an ion channel, a neuron or a synapse – that we wish to focus on. In Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience we welcome in vitro or in vivo investigations across the molecular, cellular, and systems and behavioral level. Research in any species and at any stage of development and aging that are focused at understanding integration mechanisms underlying emergent properties of the brain and behavior are welcome.
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