Mothers Produce Less Aggressive Sons With Altered Immunity When There Is A Threat Of Disease During Pregnancy

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary
Article Date: 01 Jan 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Maternal experience before and during pregnancy is known to play a key role in offspring development. However, the influence of social cues about disease in the maternal environment has not been explored. Here we show that an indirect threat of disease during pregnancy has dramatic consequences for offspring behaviour and health.

Pregnant mice housed near non-contagious diseased neighbours produced sons which showed altered immunity and less aggression as adults.

We suggest that ambient information regarding disease is used adaptively to maximise offspring survival and reproductive success in a challenging environment.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences