ADVERSE EARLY EXPERIENCES AFFECT NORADRENERGIC AND SEROTONERGIC FUNCTIONING IN ADULT PRIMATES

It has been proposed that certain adverse early experiences may play a role in determining subsequent susceptibility to adult anxiety and af fective disorders and this relationship may be the result of altered n eurodevelopment of the noradrenergic and/or serotonergic systems. In t his study of nonhuman primates, the predictability of foraging require ments for mothers during an early period of their infants' lives was m anipulated. When the offspring were young adults, these early manipula tions were related to differences in behavioral response to acute admi nistration of two putative anxiety-provoking agents: the noradrenergic probe, yohimbine, and the serotonergic probe, mCPP. These long-term e ffects of the developmental environment on subsequent pharmacological responsivity suggest that both neuronal systems may be permanently alt ered by early experiential factors.