News Release

Prenatal stress and offspring growth

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

In a comparative analysis across 21 mammal species in 719 studies, researchers report the effects of prenatal maternal stress (PREMS) on offspring growth, and suggest that PREMS likely reduces maternal investment toward offspring and accelerates offspring growth and development, with increased growth rates being linked to PREMS exposure during early gestation, highlighting a potential adaptive role for PREMS, according to the authors.

Article #17-07152: "Prenatal stress accelerates offspring growth to compensate for reduced maternal investment across mammals," by Andreas Berghänel et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: Andreas Berghänel, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; tel: 0049-176-21123898; e-mail: <aberghaenel@web.de>

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