TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of the endocrine system in baboon maternal behavior
AU - Bardi, Massimo
AU - French, Jeffrey A.
AU - Ramirez, Stephanie M.
AU - Brent, Linda
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant Nos. MH58732 and RR13199. We thank Tina Koban, Stacey Evans, and Michelle Foley for assistance with data collection. Special thanks to Linda Freeman-Shade for helping with data summarization. The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and Southwest National Primate Research Center are fully accredited by the Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International and follow all applicable regulations.
PY - 2004/4/1
Y1 - 2004/4/1
N2 - Background Human mothers display a wide range of parenting skills, and although we have gathered a large body of evidence on a variety of factors affecting maternal behavior, we still know relatively little about the physiologic correlates of variation in parental behavior in primates. Methods Excreted gonadal and adrenal steroids were measured across parturition in a large sample (n = 89) of group-living female baboons. Maternal behavior data were collected during the first 2 months of infants' life. Results We found that changes in the excreted sex steroid hormones and cortisol were associated with baboon mothers' infant-directed behaviors. Mothers who displayed more stress-related behaviors, who were also prone to maintain less contact with their infants, had higher postpartum cortisol levels, higher prepartum pregnanediol-3-glucoronide (PdG) levels, and lower postpartum PdG levels. Mothers with higher prepartum cortisol levels showed higher levels of infant-directed affiliative behaviors. Conclusions These results point toward the importance of the whole endocrine system as a functional unit in terms of enhancing maternal care in primates. The dramatic physiologic changes occurring across parturition may act, in coordination with the cognitive-experiential system, to help the mother cope with the additional challenges imposed by the newborn.
AB - Background Human mothers display a wide range of parenting skills, and although we have gathered a large body of evidence on a variety of factors affecting maternal behavior, we still know relatively little about the physiologic correlates of variation in parental behavior in primates. Methods Excreted gonadal and adrenal steroids were measured across parturition in a large sample (n = 89) of group-living female baboons. Maternal behavior data were collected during the first 2 months of infants' life. Results We found that changes in the excreted sex steroid hormones and cortisol were associated with baboon mothers' infant-directed behaviors. Mothers who displayed more stress-related behaviors, who were also prone to maintain less contact with their infants, had higher postpartum cortisol levels, higher prepartum pregnanediol-3-glucoronide (PdG) levels, and lower postpartum PdG levels. Mothers with higher prepartum cortisol levels showed higher levels of infant-directed affiliative behaviors. Conclusions These results point toward the importance of the whole endocrine system as a functional unit in terms of enhancing maternal care in primates. The dramatic physiologic changes occurring across parturition may act, in coordination with the cognitive-experiential system, to help the mother cope with the additional challenges imposed by the newborn.
KW - Adrenal steroids
KW - Papio hamadryas sp., maternal behavior
KW - Sex steroids
KW - Urinary metabolites
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.01.002
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.01.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 15039001
AN - SCOPUS:1642331452
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 55
SP - 724
EP - 732
JO - Biological Psychiatry
JF - Biological Psychiatry
IS - 7
ER -