| It appears that moms pass on experience to their | | | | biological parents had been raised with the toys and |
| children without even trying, at least if you're a mouse | | | | stimulation. |
| according to some surprising new nurture versus | | | | Early learning appears to leave lasting changes on the |
| nature based research appearing in the Journal of | | | | brain according to the study. |
| Neuroscience. But it does have some interesting | | | | When the team looked at the brains of the parent |
| implications for human moms in the future too. | | | | mice, who'd been raised in the "enriched" cages they |
| If you're wondering, as I have done, why mice are | | | | saw clear changes in long-term potentiation, a way to |
| used in studies like this, there's a totally humbling, | | | | measure how well nerve cells communicate with each |
| unflattering answer. | | | | other. |
| It seems the genetic makeup of a mouse is surprisingly | | | | The pups had the same changes in their brains as their |
| similar to our own, what's more it's a whole lot quicker | | | | stimulated mothers, though they did not pass this |
| to breed, study and scrutinize a mouse. | | | | change to their own children. This leads the |
| And though this staple of research laboratories | | | | researchers to believe the changes to the mouse |
| everywhere probably won't get the credit due these | | | | DNA were not permanent. |
| tiny creatures have taught us much of what we know | | | | No one knows what brings on these changes in the |
| about the workings of our own species. | | | | brain. |
| What the mice in this latest research tell us is that | | | | One theory suggests that learning and stimulation could |
| mothers are able to pass on their learning experiences | | | | raise levels of hormones. These levels could remain |
| to their children, things they learned even before they | | | | elevated for a long time, and affect a developing fetus, |
| became pregnant. | | | | including humans. |
| This idea could dramatically change how we think of | | | | There is a good deal of evidence that during |
| inheritance. It may well be more than just genetics - | | | | embryonic development a fetus is very sensitive to |
| blue eyes or blonde hair - it might also include | | | | what the mother is exposed to in the outer |
| hard-learned experience. A sort of protective | | | | environment. Food, chemicals or hormones could all |
| mechanism built in by nature. | | | | play a role. |
| The team of experts found that young mice raised in | | | | "You inherit to some degree some aspects of your |
| an enriched environment - a cage with stimulation, | | | | parent's experience," explains Larry Feig, a professor |
| nesting materials and engaging toys - were able to | | | | of biochemistry at Tufts University School of Medicine |
| pass along the benefits of what they'd learned to the | | | | in Boston, and one of the leaders of the research |
| next generation of pups. Pups they had after growing | | | | team. |
| up and being removed from the enriched environment. | | | | And since environments can be both good and bad, |
| And it wasn't better parenting by the stimulated | | | | Dean Hartley, a neurosciences researcher who also |
| mothers. Even pups that were swapped at birth, given | | | | worked on the nurture versus nature study, cautions |
| to mothers who'd been raised in plain cages with | | | | us to look closely at the prenatal environment |
| wood chips, were able to learn better, so long as their | | | | surrounding a mother. |