Abstract

Stress, Depression, and Inherited Variation in Primate Hippocampal and Prefrontal Brain Development

David M. Lyons
Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 2002; 36(1):27-43.

Abstract

The search for genetic and environmental risk factors that alter brain growth and emotional development is limited in humans with affective disorders that are triggered or aggravated by stress. Animal models are particularly well suited for the investigation of genetic variation in carefilly controlled environments. Here, we illustrate this preclinical approach with a series of studies on early life stress and inherited variation in squirrel monkey hippocampal and prefontal volumes determined in vivo with magnetic resonance imaging.