Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume 48, Issue 2 , Pages 114-127, February 2009

Risk and Resilience: Early Manipulation of Macaque Social Experience and Persistent Behavioral and Neurophysiological Outcomes

Drs. Stevens and Leckman are with the Yale Child Study Center at the Yale University School of Medicine; Dr. Coplan is with the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center; and Dr. Suomi is with the Laboratory of Comparative Ethology at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Accepted 27 August 2008.

Disclosure: Dr. Stevens has received research funding from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry through an award sponsored by Eli Lilly. Dr. Leckman has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Coplan has served on the speakers' bureaus of Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, and Forest; has received pharmaceutical funding from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer; and has served on the advisory boards of Neurogen and Pfizer. Dr. Suomi reports no conflicts of interest.

Abstract 

Objective

To review the contributions of research on nonhuman primates, specifically macaque monkeys, to the understanding of early social stress and its effects on behavior and neurophysiology.

Method

Review and synthesis of two bodies of work on macaque monkeys and early social manipulation: peer rearing and variable foraging demands. The literature was searched with Medline using key terms macaque, variable foraging, and peer rearing. The reference lists of these articles were also used to generate potential studies for review.

Results

Nonhuman primate macaques show similarities to humans in their social development and functioning. Peer rearing of young macaques and rearing of young macaques with mothers experiencing variable foraging conditions both result in increased anxious, impulsive, and aggressive temperament and behavior; more reactive stress physiology; altered neurotransmitter functioning; and immune and metabolic changes. Functional variants of specific genes that code for neuromodulators are mediators of these effects.

Conclusions

Disrupted social relations during macaque rearing contribute to the risk for developing emotional and neurophysiological disturbance. In the face of such disruption, certain genotypes contribute to resilience. This can be alternately stated that, for animals of high-risk genotypes, resilience is conferred by quality relationships during rearing. This interaction of genetics with early social environment also applies to child mental health, implicating biological mediators identified in macaques as contributing to more complex outcomes in humans.

Key Words:  primates , maternal care , attachment , hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis , neurophysiology

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 12.00 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

 This article was reviewed under and accepted by Associate Editor James J. Hudziak, M.D.Financial support was provided by Yale Child Study Center Albert J. Solnit Integrated Training Program.The authors thank Jean Adnopoz, Joseph Woolston, and Linda Mayes for collaboration in organizing conferences on the topic covered in this review.

PII: S0890-8567(09)60005-8

doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e318193064c

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume 48, Issue 2 , Pages 114-127, February 2009

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution