Psychology Commons^™

Natural Variation In Maternal Care And Cross-Tissue Patterns Of Oxytocin Receptor Gene Methylation In Rats, Annaliese K. Beery, Lisa M. Mcewen, Julia L. Macisaac, Darlene D. Francis, Michael S. Kobor

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Since the first report of maternal care effects on DNA methylation in rats, epigenetic modifications of the genome in response to life experience have become the subject of intense focus across many disciplines. Oxytocin receptor expression varies in response to early experience, and both oxytocin signaling and methylation status of the oxytocin receptor gene (Oxtr) in blood have been related to disordered social behavior. It is unknown whether Oxtr methylation varies in response to early life experience, and whether currently employed peripheral measures of Oxtr methylation reflect variation in the brain. We examined the effects of early life rearing experience …