Nature’s Family Health Plan: Neurobiological Benefits in Primate and Rodent Parental Models

Summary: As the parental brain extends its attention from self to offspring, neural and physiological adaptations enhance emotional resilience and cognitive flexibility. Stress responsivity – associated with susceptibility to psychiatric illness and chronic disease – is dampened in males from both bi-parental and uni-parental primate models (e.g. owl monkeys and long-tailed macaques, respectively). Recent investigation of maternal rat brains suggests that potential mechanisms of this effect are related to reduced responsiveness of stress hormone receptors and enhanced neuroplasticity markers in the hippocampus, a brain area known for integrative emotional functions and learning ability Kelly Lambert, PhD, Faculty, Joan Brock Professor of Psychology, Department Chair, Randolph Macon College, Ashland, VA This lecture was recorded live at The Bowen Center in Washington, DC on April 13, 2016 (Wednesday).