Early environmental regulation of forebrain gluto-corticoid receptor gene expression; implications for adreno-cortical responses to stress

Meaney MJ

1996

Montreal, Canada

Pup rats were handled daily for the first 21 days after birth. Later on in life the handled rats reached lower levels of such hormones as ACTH and corticosteroids in response to wide variety of stressors. They also showed a faster return to basal levels following the termination of stress. The important point is that these differences are apparent as late as 24-26 months of age and indicate that the effects persist over the entire life of the animals.

Such data illustrates the concept of hormonal set point level that was introduced in “Primal Health� (1986).