Response of adolescent bonnet macaques to an acute fear stimulus as a function of early rearing conditions

When primate infants are reared during the first half-year of life in an en vironment in which their mothers face uncertain requirements for food procu rement (variable foraging demand [VFD]), long-lasting behavioral and neurod evelopmental consequences ensue, including increases in timidity and social subordinance as well as alterations in stress-related neuroendocrine profi les. We examined the nature and persistence of the effects of VFD rearing b y exposing VFD-reared and normally reared adolescent bonnet macaques to a m ild fear-provoking stimulus 2 years after the end of differential rearing. VFD-reared subjects at baseline were less gregarious than normally rear-ed monkeys. VFDs also were considerably less responsive to the fear stimulus, and their behavior and affect returned to baseline levels more quickly than normally real-ed subjects. The extent and persistence of the sequelae of V FD rearing suggest parallels with predisposing factors in human anxiety dis orders. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.