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Experience-dependent asymmetric variation in primate prefrontal morphology BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH Lyons, D. M., Afarian, H., Schatzberg, A. F., Sawyer-Glover, A., Moseley, M. E. 2002; 136 (1): 51-59

Abstract

Theories of human development suggest that experiences embedded in social relationships alter prefrontal brain systems that mediate emotional self-regulation. This study tests for experience-dependent effects on prefrontal gray and white matter volumes determined in 39 young adult monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) 4 years after conditions that modified early maternal availability. These conditions were previously shown to alter subsequent measures of emotional behavior, social propensities, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress physiology. Here we identify significant differences in right but not left adult prefrontal volumes, with experience-dependent asymmetric variation most clearly expressed in ventral medial cortex measured in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Follow-up studies now need to determine whether maternal availability directly affects or interacts with subsequent experiences to alter prefrontal substrates of emotional processing and sensitivity to stress.

View details for Web of Science ID 000178776300005

View details for PubMedID 12385789