Effects Of Early Life Experiences Research Articles

Perinatal and early life factors and asthma control among preschoolers: a population-based retrospective cohort study

BackgroundPreventing poor childhood asthma control is crucial for short-term and long-term respiratory health. This study evaluated associations between perinatal and early-life factors and early childhood asthma control.MethodsThis retrospective study used...

The Relationship between Meaning in Life and the Childhood Family Environment among Emerging Adults.

This study investigates the impact of the childhood family environment on reported meaning in life among emerging adults (n = 507) at a private, urban, religious university. This study found that participants who reported growing up in an emotionally warm family environment ultimately reported more meaning in life as adults and that this effect was mediated by loneliness. This suggests that people from emotionally cold and rejecting early family environments may struggle with meaning in life as adults because they are lonelier. This research contributes a developmental perspective to understanding meaning in life. The public health implications of these findings are discussed. Future research should consider accounting for the effects of early life experiences on meaning in life.

Effects of early-life experience on innovation and problem-solving in captive coyotes

Early-life experience often shapes behaviors like innovation and exploration. These behaviors are important to animals encountering novel food resources in diverse habitats, such as mesocarnivores in urban areas. To understand if early-life experiences impact later-life behavior, we examined how coyotes (Canis latrans) responded to a multi-access puzzle box at two life stages: pup (~ 7 weeks) and dispersal (~ 10 months). We first exposed pups, still living with their parents and littermates, to a baited puzzle box. At dispersal age, we again tested both these pups and an age-matched control group that was not exposed to the puzzle box as pups, both as individuals and with their pair-mate. We quantified problem-solving capability, latency to approach, and time spent in proximity to the puzzle box. Most pup litters solved two of the three access points, but no dispersal-age coyotes solved any access point. The amount of time dispersal-age coyotes spent near the box during pair-testing increased with (1) more time spent near the box during single-testing, (2) more time their pair-mate spent near the box during pair-testing, and (3) if their pair-mate came from a litter that previously solved the box. These results suggest that early-life experience and social interactions influence exploratory behavior at dispersal age, but coyotes exhibit increased avoidance behavior at this life stage, which corresponds with the life stage that overall survivorship decreases. Our study provides insight into how early-life experiences shape adult behavior in mesocarnivores. Exploratory behaviors, including risk-taking and problem-solving, are likely important characteristics for urban-dwelling species, such as coyotes, but how development and sociality influence these traits is poorly understood. Therefore, we presented coyotes with a puzzle box as pups with their littermates and again at dispersal age, both individually and with their pair-mate. Three of four litters solved the puzzle box when housed with their littermates, but no coyotes solved at dispersal age when housed alone or with their pair-mate. Notably, there was a general decrease in exploratory behavior and innovation from pup to dispersal age. However, we found that previous experiences during puzzle-box trials positively influenced the amount of time coyote pairs spent near the puzzle box at dispersal age. Our results suggest that pursuing food resources in novel situations may be constrained by developmental processes, possibly in response to prioritizing future opportunities to reproduce.

Adversity in Infancy and Childhood Cognitive Development: Evidence from four developing countries

Abstract Background The effects of early life experiences on adult outcomes manifest through the childhood years. Since adult outcomes take many years to appear, and less amenable for policy, investigating the relationship between early life experiences on childhood outcomes is more relevant for policy. This study, by examining the association between adverse experiences in early infancy (AEI) on childhood cognitive development, provides early actionable evidence on how early environment of children can be manipulated to make a tangible difference in their cognitive development during childhood to achieve better outcomes later in life. Methods A total of 8,000 children followed over three rounds from age 1 to 8 years (2002 to 2009), as part of the Young Lives study in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam were included. Childhood cognition was measured with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) administered in round 2 and round 3, at average ages of 5 (PPVT-5) and 8 (PPVT-8), respectively. The primary independent variable was adverse experience in infancy (AEI) score, constructed using measures on child's weight, exposure to adverse household, economic, and environmental shocks as reported by a parent or a care giver in round 1 (age 1). The AEI scores were classified as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or > =5, with smaller numbers representing less severe adversities. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was used to estimate the association between the AEI at age 1, PPVT-5, and PPVT-8, controlling for key demographic and socioeconomic factors. Results Both PPVT-5 and PPVT-8 were significantly lower for children who were exposed to adverse experiences at age 1. As the AEI score (range: 0-5) rose from 0 to 1, 2, 3, 4 and > =5, the PPVT-5 score decreased by 0.6, 1.3, 1.2, 1.4, and 1.5 points, and PPVT-8 decreased by 0.9, 0.8, 5.4, 5.6, and 9.3 points. Conclusions Early life adversities negatively impact cognitive development as soon as in early and mid-childhood. Key messages Adversities in early infancy may determine childhood development. Since adulthood outcomes are directly related to childhood development, addressing early adversities before they get worse may help to successfully manage a society’s future.

Early life adversity affecting the attachment bond alters ventral tegmental area transcriptomic patterning and behavior almost exclusively in female mice

Early life experiences that affect the attachment bond formation can alter developmental trajectories and result in pathological outcomes in a sex-related manner. However, the molecular basis of sex differences is quite unknown. The dopaminergic system originating from the ventral tegmental area has been proposed to be a key mediator of this process.Here we exploited a murine model of early adversity (Repeated Cross Fostering, RCF) to test how interfering with the attachment bond formation affects the VTA-related functions in a sex-specific manner.Through a comprehensive behavioral screening, within the NiH RDoC framework, and by next-generation RNA-Seq experiments, we analyzed the long-lasting effect of RCF on behavioral and transcriptional profiles related to the VTA, across two different inbred strains of mouse in both sexes.We found that RCF impacted to an extremely greater extent VTA-related behaviors in females than in males and this result mirrored the transcriptional alterations in the VTA that were almost exclusively observed in females. The sexual dimorphism was conserved across two different inbred strains in spite of their divergent long lasting consequences of RCF exposure.Our data suggest that to be female primes a sub-set of genes to respond to early environmental perturbations.This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first evidence of an almost exclusive effect of early life experiences on females, thus mirroring the extremely stronger impact of precocious aversive events reported in clinical studies in women.

Associations of socioeconomic and other environmental factors with early brain development in Bangladeshi infants and children

Studies of infants growing up in high-income countries reveal developmental changes in electroencephalography (EEG) power whereby socioeconomic factors - specifically, low SES and low income - are associated with lower EEG power in infants aged newborn to nine months. In the current paper we explore relationships of spectral EEG power across three regions (frontal, central, and parietal) and four frequency bands (theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) with socioeconomic and psychosocial factors in a cohort of n = 160 6-month-old infants and n = 187 36-month-old children living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Household wealth is assessed as a multi-dimensional composite score encompassing income, assets, and housing materials. Psychosocial factors include maternal perceived stress and family caregiving activities. Among the 6-month-old infants we do not observe any association of household wealth or psychosocial factors with EEG power. Among the 36-month-old children, we find that household wealth is negatively associated absolute power in the beta and gamma bands across frontal, central, and parietal electrodes. We also find that higher reports of maternal perceived stress are associated with more absolute theta power in frontal and central regions in the 36-month-old children. The finding of a negative relationship of household wealth with beta and gamma power in 36-month-old children differs from findings previously observed in infants in high-income countries. Overall, findings suggest that children’s environment continues to influence the development of EEG oscillations and provide support for the utility of EEG to quantify developmental effects of early life experiences on neural functional outcomes in low income countries.

Familiarity and Mate Preference Assessment with the Partner Preference Test.

In contrast to traditional laboratory animals, prairie voles form socially monogamous partnerships in the wild and exhibit lasting social preferences for familiar individuals-both mates and same-sex peers-in the laboratory. Decades of research into the mechanisms supporting pair bonding behavior have made prairie voles an important model organism for the study of social relationships. The partner preference test is a laboratory test of familiarity preference that takes place over an extended interval (typically 3 hr), during which test subjects can directly interact with conspecifics and often engage in resting side-by-side contact (i.e., huddling). The use of this test has enabled study of the neural pathways and mechanisms involved in promoting or impairing relationship formation. The tendency to form partner preferences is also used as a behavioral indicator of the effects of early life experiences and environmental exposures. While this test was developed to assess the extent of social preference for mates in prairie voles, it has been adapted for use in other social contexts and in multiple other species. This article provides instructions for conducting the classic partner preference test, as well as variations including same-sex "peer" partner preference tests. The effects of several protocol variations are examined, including duration of cohousing, separation interval, use of tethers versus barriers, linear versus branched apparatus configuration, and duration of the test. The roles of social variables including sex of the focal individual, sex of conspecifics, reproductive state, and use of the test in other species are then considered. Finally, sample data are provided along with discussion of scoring and statistical analysis of partner preference tests. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol: Partner preference test Support Protocol: Behavioral scoring.

Genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors controlling oxytocin receptor gene expression

BackgroundThe neuropeptide oxytocin regulates mammalian social behavior. Disruptions in oxytocin signaling are a feature of many psychopathologies. One commonly studied biomarker for oxytocin involvement in psychiatric diseases is DNA methylation at the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). Such studies focus on DNA methylation in two regions of OXTR, exon 3 and a region termed MT2 which overlaps exon 1 and intron 1. However, the relative contribution of exon 3 and MT2 in regulating OXTR gene expression in the brain is currently unknown.ResultsHere, we use the prairie vole as a translational animal model to investigate genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors affecting Oxtr gene expression in a region of the brain that has been shown to drive Oxtr related behavior in the vole, the nucleus accumbens. We show that the genetic structure of Oxtr in prairie voles resembles human OXTR. We then studied the effects of early life experience on DNA methylation in two regions of a CpG island surrounding the Oxtr promoter: MT2 and exon 3. We show that early nurture in the form of parental care results in DNA hypomethylation of Oxtr in both MT2 and exon 3, but only DNA methylation in MT2 is associated with Oxtr gene expression. Network analyses indicate that CpG sites in the 3′ portion of MT2 are most highly associated with Oxtr gene expression. We also identify two novel SNPs in exon 3 of Oxtr in prairie voles and a novel alternative transcript originating from the third intron of the gene. Expression of the novel alternative transcript is associated with genotype at SNP KLW2.ConclusionsThese results identify putative regulatory features of Oxtr in prairie voles which inform future studies examining OXTR in human social behaviors and disorders. These studies indicate that in prairie voles, DNA methylation in MT2, particularly in the 3′ portion, is more predictive of Oxtr gene expression than DNA methylation in exon 3. Similarly, in human temporal cortex, we find that DNA methylation in the 3′ portion of MT2 is associated with OXTR expression. Together, these results suggest that among the CpG sites studied, DNA methylation of MT2 may be the most reliable indicator of OXTR gene expression. We also identify novel features of prairie vole Oxtr, including SNPs and an alternative transcript, which further develop the prairie vole as a translational model for studies of OXTR.

Innate and learned responses of foraging predatory mites to polar and non-polar fractions of thrips’ chemical cues

Plant-inhabiting predatory mites (Acari, Phytoseiidae) are important natural enemies of herbivorous mites and insects and globally used in biological control in diverse agro-ecosystems. Foraging predatory mites predominantly use chemical cues to find plants harboring prey, to locate prey patches within plants and to detect prey individuals within patches. While a great deal of research has been dedicated to the response of predatory mites to herbivore-induced plant volatiles, comparatively little is known about close range chemosensory orientation such as the response to kairomones emanating from prey bodies. We addressed this issue in the interaction between the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot and its prey Western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande. First, we assessed the predators’ innate response to polar and non-polar fractions of whole-body extracts of thrips, which were generated by four solvents, i.e. hexane (strongly non-polar), ethyl acetate (moderately non-polar), ethanol (moderately polar) and distilled water (strongly polar). The predators avoided the non-polar hexane extract, did not show a clear response to the ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts, and were strongly attracted by the polar water extract. Second, we evaluated the effects of early life experience with the aversive hexane and attractive water extracts on the foraging behavior of adult predators presented live thrips. The predators memorized which type of cue they had experienced early in life. Experience of the aversive hexane extract reduced, whereas experience of the attractive water extract enhanced, the attack likelihood and predation rate on thrips, relative to thrips extract-naïve predators. GC–MS analysis of the hexane extract revealed six major compounds, i.e. decyl acetate, dodecyl acetate, linolenic acid, pentacosan, heptacosane and an unidentified unsaturated acetate. Decyl acetate and dodecyl acetate are well known compounds released by thrips upon predation threat; whether the other four compounds convey any information to the predators is unknown. Our study provides evidence that polar and non-polar fractions of thrips’ chemical cues elicit opposite responses in foraging predatory mites. The finding that early learning of thrips chemical cues profoundly changes the predators’ foraging success later in life may be exploited to optimize biological control of thrips.

Chen A, ed. Stress Resilience: Molecular and Behavioral Aspects. London, England: Academic Press; 2020.

Chen A, ed. Stress Resilience: Molecular and Behavioral Aspects. London, England: Academic Press; 2020.

Early life experience and alterations of group composition shape the social grooming networks of former pet and entertainment chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

The long-term effects of early life adversities on social capacities have been documented in humans and wild-caught former laboratory chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). However, former pet and entertainment chimpanzees have received little attention to date. This study aimed to investigate the long-term effects of early life experience on 18 former pet and entertainment chimpanzees, based on social grooming data collected at a primate rescue centre over a 12-year period. Moreover, we also focused on the possible short-term effects that alterations to group composition might have on grooming patterns. For this purpose, we compared stable and unstable periods (i.e. where alterations to group composition occurred). We used two individual social network measures to analyse the grooming activity and the distribution of grooming among group mates for each individual. We could show that wild-caught chimpanzees were significantly more selective regarding their grooming partners and spent less time grooming when compared to their captive born companions. We also found that individuals who were predominantly housed without conspecifics during infancy spent less time grooming compared to those who were predominantly housed with conspecifics during infancy. Furthermore, we found that alterations to the group composition had short-term effects on the distribution of social grooming from a more equal distribution during periods with a stable group composition towards a more unequal and selective distribution during unstable periods. Thus, we conclude that the social grooming networks of former pet and entertainment chimpanzees are shaped not only by long-term effects such as early life experience, but also by short-term effects such as alterations to group composition. Remarkably, we found not only captive born chimpanzees but also wild-caught individuals to adjust their grooming to socially challenging situations by modifying their grooming distribution in a similar way.

Neuroimmunological effects of early life experiences.

Exposure to adverse experiences during development increases the risk of psychiatric illness later in life. Growing evidence suggests a role for the neuroimmune system in this relationship. There is now substantial evidence that the immune system is critical for normal brain development and behaviour, and responds to environmental perturbations experienced early in life. Severe or chronic stress results in dysregulated neuroimmune function, concomitant with abnormal brain morphology and function. Positive experiences including environmental enrichment and exercise exert the opposite effect, promoting normal brain and immune function even in the face of early life stress. The neuroimmune system may therefore provide a viable target for prevention and treatment of psychiatric illness. This review will briefly summarise the neuroimmune system in brain development and function, and review the effects of stress and positive environmental experiences during development on neuroimmune function. There are also significant sex differences in how the neuroimmune system responds to environmental experiences early in life, which we will briefly review.

Taking the Good with the Bad: Positive Childhood Experiences Might Moderate Effects of Early Adversity

Research into the effect of early life experiences on later health has focused heavily on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), yet positive childhood

Addendum: The effect of early life experience, environment, and genetic factors on spontaneous home-cage aggression-related wounding in male C57BL/6 mice.

Addendum: The effect of early life experience, environment, and genetic factors on spontaneous home-cage aggression-related wounding in male C57BL/6 mice.

Effects of early nutritional stress on physiology, life histories and their trade-offs in a model ectothermic vertebrate.

Early-life experiences can have far-reaching consequences for phenotypes into adulthood. The effect of early-life experiences on fitness, particularly under adverse conditions, is mediated by resource allocation to particular life-history traits. Reptiles exhibit great variation in life histories (e.g. indeterminate growth), thus selective pressures often mitigate the effects of early-life stress, particularly on growth and maturation. We examined the effects of early-life food restriction on growth, adult body size, physiology and reproduction in the checkered garter snake. Animals were placed on one of two early-life diet treatments: normal diet (approximating ad libitum feeding) or low diet (restricted to 20% of body mass in food weekly). At 15 weeks of age, low-diet animals were switched to the normal-diet treatment. Individuals fed a restricted diet showed reduced growth rates, depressed immunocompetence and a heightened glucocorticoid response. Once food restriction was lifted, animals experiencing nutritional stress early in life (low diet) caught up with the normal-diet group by increasing their growth, and were able to recover from the negative effects of nutritional stress on immune function and physiology. Growth restriction and the subsequent allocation of resources into increasing growth rates, however, had a negative effect on fitness. Mating success was reduced in low-diet males, while low-diet females gave birth to smaller offspring. In addition, although not a direct goal of our study, we found a sex-specific effect of early-life nutritional stress on median age of survival. Our study demonstrates both immediate and long-term effects of nutritional stress on physiology and growth, reproduction, and trade-offs among them.

The effect of early life experience, environment, and genetic factors on spontaneous home-cage aggression-related wounding in male C57BL/6 mice.

Aggression is a major welfare issue in mice, particularly when mice unfamiliar to each other are first placed in cages, as happens on receipt from a vendor, and following cage cleaning. Injuries from aggression are the second leading cause of unplanned euthanasia in mice, following ulcerative dermatitis. Commonly employed strategies for reducing aggression-related injury are largely anecdotal, and may even be counterproductive. Here we report a series of experiments testing potential explanations and interventions for post-shipping aggression-related injuries in C57BL/6 mice. First, we examined the effects of weaning: testing whether manipulating weaning age reduced aggression-related injuries, and if repeated mixing of weaned mice before shipping increased these injuries. Contrary to our predictions, repeated mixing did not increase post-shipping injurious aggression, and early weaning reduced aggression-related injuries. Second, we examined potential post-shipping interventions: testing whether lavender essential oil applied to the cage reduced aggression-related injuries, and whether a variety of enrichments decreased injurious aggression. Again, contrary to predictions, lavender increased wounding, and none of the enrichments reduced it. However, consistent with the effects of weaning age in the first experiment, cages with higher mean body weight showed elevated levels of aggression-related wounding. Finally, we tested whether C57BL/6 substrains and identification methods affected levels of intra-cage wounding from aggression. We found no effect of strain, but cages where mice were ear-notched for identification showed higher levels of wounding than cages where mice were tail-tattooed. Overall, these results emphasize the multifactorial nature of home-cage injurious aggression, and the importance of testing received wisdom when it comes to managing complex behavioral and welfare problems. In terms of practical recommendations to reduce aggressive wounding in the home cage, tail tattooing is recommended over ear notching and late weaning should be avoided.

Epigenetic memory in response to environmental stressors

Exposure to environmental stressors, toxicants, and nutrient deficiencies can affect DNA in several ways. Some exposures cause damage and alter the structure of DNA, but there is increasing evidence that the same or other environmental exposures, including those that occur during fetal development in utero, can cause epigenetic effects that modulate DNA function and gene expression. Some epigenetic changes to DNA that affect gene transcription are at least partially reversible (i.e., they can be enzymatically reversed after cessation of exposure to environmental agents), but some epigenetic modifications seem to persist, even for decades. To explain the effects of early life experiences (such as famine and exposures to other stressors) on the long-term persistence of specific patterns of epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, we propose an analogy with immune memory. We propose that an epigenetic memory can be established and maintained in self-renewing stem cell compartments. We suggest that the observations on early life effects on adult diseases and the persistence of methylation changes in smokers support our hypothesis, for which a mechanistic basis, however, needs to be further clarified. We outline a new model based on methylation changes. Although these changes seem to be mainly adaptive, they are also implicated in the pathogenesis and onset of diseases, depending on individual genotypic background and types of subsequent exposures. Elucidating the relationships between the adaptive and maladaptive consequences of the epigenetic modifications that result from complex environmental exposures is a major challenge for current and future research in epigenetics.-Vineis, P., Chatziioannou, A., Cunliffe, V. T., Flanagan, J. M., Hanson, M., Kirsch-Volders, M., Kyrtopoulos, S. Epigenetic memory in response to environmental stressors.

Early life experience drives short-term acclimation of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits in the leaf-eared mouse.

We studied the putative effect of early life experience on the physiological flexibility of metabolic and osmoregulatory traits in the leaf-eared mouse, Phyllotis darwini, an altricial rodent inhabiting seasonal Mediterranean environments. Adult individuals were collected in central Chile and maintained in breeding pairs. Pups were isolated after weaning and acclimated to different temperatures (cold or warm) and water availability (unrestricted and restricted) until adulthood. Subsequently, individuals were re-acclimated to the opposite treatment. Rodents reared in the warm and subjected to water restriction had lower basal metabolic rate (BMR), total evaporative water loss (TEWL) and body mass (Mb) compared with those developing in the cold treatment; nevertheless, individuals subjected to warm temperatures had greater relative medullary thickness (RMT) and urine concentrating ability (UCA). Cold-reared rodents re-acclimated to warm conditions exhibited physiological flexibility of metabolic traits; however, their osmoregulatory attributes did not vary. Conversely, warm-reared rodents re-acclimated to cold had reduced RMT and UCA, but the metabolic traits of these individuals did not change. These results suggest a trade-off between metabolic performance and renal capabilities that might hinder physiological acclimation. Our results support the hypothesis of ontogenetic dependence of short-term acclimation in osmoregulatory and metabolic traits in P. darwini.

T22 - Next-Generation Bisulfite Sequencing Of Cacna1c With Illumina Miseq

Background The complex etiology of psychiatric illness involves both genetic and environmental factors. The latter may act via epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation. Studies suggest that epigenetic regulation of gene expression may mediate the effects of early life experiences on adult behavior and susceptibility to psychiatric illness. CACNA1C is an epigenetically regulated gene implicated in the etiology of psychiatric illness. Here, the third CpG island located in intron 3 is of particular interest since: (1) differential methylation is reported between bipolar patients and controls, with higher methylation levels being observed in patients; (2) CpG sites in this CpG island show blood/brain correlation; (3) individual methylation level predict more of the variance than tissue methylation level; and (4) it is a significant meQTL, as it is located in close proximity (5kb) to rs1006737, which shows a genome wide significant association to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression. The aim of the present study was to test the feasibility of next generation bisulfite sequencing in the methylation analysis of CpG sites of the third CACNA1C CpG island. Methods Next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of the CACNA1C region of Intron 3 was performed. A total of 63 CpG sites from three bisulfite converted whole blood DNA samples were analyzed. Both single- and multiplex-PCRs were used. Results Singleplex-PCR generated 8,000 to 36,000 sequence reads, with a sequence identity of 99.0 to 99.9%. The standard deviation of the methylation level per CpG of the three samples ranged from 0.3 to 6.4%. Multiplex-PCR generated variable methylation values, with lower sequence identity and fewer sequence reads. Discussion This is the first comprehensive analysis of methylation levels of the CACNA1C third intronic region to use NGS. The results indicate that multiplex PCR is not an appropriate method for methylation analysis of bisulfite converted DNA. Now it is planed to perform simultaneous sequencing of 384 samples using singleplex-PCR.

Monoaminergic integration of diet and social signals in the brains of juvenile spadefoot toads.

Social behavior often includes the production of species-specific signals (e.g. mating calls or visual displays) that evoke context-dependent behavioral responses from conspecifics. Monoamines are important neuromodulators that have been implicated in context-dependent social behavior, yet we know little about the development of monoaminergic systems and whether they mediate the effects of early life experiences on adult behavior. We examined the effects of diet and social signals on monoamines early in development in the plains spadefoot toad (Spea bombifrons), a species in which diet affects the developmental emergence of species recognition and body condition affects the expression of adult mating preferences. To do so, we manipulated the diet of juveniles for 6weeks following metamorphosis and collected their brains 40 min following the presentation of either a conspecific or a heterospecific call. We measured levels of monoamines and their metabolites using high pressure liquid chromatography from tissue punches of the auditory midbrain (i.e. torus semicircularis), hypothalamus and preoptic area. We found that call type affected dopamine and noradrenaline signaling in the auditory midbrain and that diet affected dopamine and serotonin in the hypothalamus. In the preoptic area, we detected an interaction between diet and call type, indicating that diet modulates how the preoptic area integrates social information. Our results suggest that the responsiveness of monoamine systems varies across the brain and highlight preoptic dopamine and noradrenaline as candidates for mediating effects of early diet experience on later expression of social preferences.