Epigenetic Programming by Maternal Behavior in the Human Infant [pediatrics.aappublications.org]
By Barry M. Lester, Elisabeth Conradt, Linda L. LaGasse, et al., Pediatrics, 2019 OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine if variations in maternal care alter DNA methylation in term, healthy, 5-month-old infants. This work was based on landmark studies in animal models demonstrating that nurturing care by dams would alter their newborns’ stress responses through epigenetic mechanisms. We used breastfeeding as a proxy for animal maternal behavior. We hypothesized alterations in DNA methylation of...