Abstract
The etiology of complex psychiatric disorders results from both genetics and the environment. No definitive environmental factor has been implicated, but studies suggest that deficits in maternal care and bonding may be an important contributing factor in the development of anxiety and depression. Perinatal mood disorders such as postpartum depression occur in approximately 10% of pregnant women and can result in detriments in infant care and bonding. The consequences of impaired maternal–infant attachment during critical early brain development may lead to adverse effects on socioemotional and neurocognitive development in infants resulting in long-term behavioral and emotional problems, including increased vulnerability for mental illness. The exact mechanisms by which environmental stressors such as poor maternal care increase the risk for psychiatric disorders are not known and studies in humans have proven challenging. Two inbred mouse strains may prove useful for studying the interaction between maternal care and mood disorders. BALB/c (BALB) mice are considered an anxious strain in comparison to C57BL/6 (B6) mice in behavioral models of anxiety. These strain differences are most often attributed to genetics but may also be due to environment and gene by environment interactions. For example, BALB mice are described as poor mothers and B6 mice as good mothers and mothering behavior in rodents has been reported to affect both anxiety and stress behaviors in offspring. Changes in gene methylation patterns in response to maternal care have also been reported, providing evidence for epigenetic mechanisms. Characterization of these two mouse inbred strains over the course of pregnancy and in the postpartum period for behavioral and neuroendocrine changes may provide useful information by which to inform human studies, leading to advances in our understanding of the etiology of anxiety and depression and the role of genetics and the environment.
Highlights
Maternal psychiatric illness during pregnancy and following childbirth is both common and morbid; if untreated, it can result in potentially devastating consequences to the mother and her baby
The overarching goal of this review is to examine the usefulness of animal models to disentangle the role of genetics, epigenetics, and the environment on maternal anxiety and depression with regard to maternal care and its effects on offspring
Postpartum depression is debilitating to women who experience it and potentially damaging to their offspring
Summary
Maternal psychiatric illness during pregnancy and following childbirth (the perinatal period) is both common and morbid; if untreated, it can result in potentially devastating consequences to the mother and her baby. Animal models of postpartum anxiety and depression pregnancy and the postpartum period influences the physiological and psychological health of offspring, resulting in the development of behavioral and emotional disorders. This is a highly complex area of study, as there are a multitude of psychosocial, environmental and biological processes involved in parenting behavior. Animal models provide a complementary approach for understanding the processes by which maternal behavior during pregnancy and the postpartum period influences the physiological and psychological health of offspring, resulting in the development of behavioral and emotional disorders that may persist into adulthood. As has been demonstrated in humans, deficiencies in maternal care during the postpartum period have been shown to result in anxiety, stress, and depression-related behaviors in adult rodent offspring.
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