Citation

Santiago A, Aoki C, Sullivan RM. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 2017; 14: 78-85.

Affiliation

Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10003; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10003; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.12.010

PMID

28239630

Abstract

Young infant rat pups learn to approach cues associated with pain rather than learning amygdala-dependent fear. This approach response is considered caregiver-seeking and ecologically relevant within the context of attachment. With maturation, increases in the stress hormone corticosterone permit amygdala-dependent fear, which is crucial for survival during independent living. During the developmental transition from attachment to fear learning, maternal presence suppresses corticosterone elevation to block amygdala-dependent fear learning and re-engage the attachment circuitry. Early life trauma disrupts this developmental sequence by triggering a precocious increase of corticosterone, which permits amygdala-dependent threat responses. In this review, we explore the importance of the stress hormone corticosterone in infants' transition from complete dependence on the caregiver to independence, with consideration for environmental influences on threat response ontogeny and mechanistic importance of social buffering of the stress response.

Language: en

Keywords

amygdala; corticosterone; development; social buffering; stress