2014/10/31 by Katie Hinde, Amy L. Skibiel, A. Foster +3 · 1 voice
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Stress Responses and Cortisol
paper · doi:10.1093/beheco/aru186
openalex publication_date 2014/10/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
= 108). Glucocorticoids in mother's milk, independent of available milk energy, predicted a more Nervous, less Confident temperament in both sons and daughters. We additionally found sex differences in the windows of sensitivity and the magnitude of sensitivity to maternal-origin glucocorticoids. Lower parity mothers produced milk with higher cortisol concentrations. Lastly, higher cortisol concentrations in milk were associated with greater infant weight gain across time. Taken together, these results suggest that mothers with fewer somatic resources, even in captivity, may be "programming" through cortisol signaling, behaviorally cautious offspring that prioritize growth. Glucocorticoids ingested through milk may importantly contribute to the assimilation of available milk energy, development of temperament, and orchestrate, in part, the allocation of maternal milk energy between growth and behavioral phenotype.