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Epigenetic programming of reward function in offspring: a role for maternal diet

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Abstract

Early life development, through gestation and lactation, represents a timeframe of extreme vulnerability for the developing fetus in general, and for the central nervous system in particular. An adverse perinatal environment can have a lasting negative impact on brain development, increasing the risk for developmental disorders and broader psychopathologies. A major determinant of the fetal developmental environment is maternal diet. The present review summarizes the current literature regarding the effect of poor maternal perinatal nutrition on offspring brain development, with an emphasis on reward-related neural systems and behaviors. Epigenetic mechanisms represent a likely link between maternal diet and persistent changes in offspring brain development, and these mechanisms are presented and discussed within the context of perinatal maternal nutrition.

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Acknowledgments

TMR received funding from the National Institutes of Health (MH087978, MH091372).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, 10-131 Smilow Center for Translational Research, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Nicola Grissom, Nicole Bowman & Teresa M. Reyes

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  1. Nicola Grissom
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  2. Nicole Bowman
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  3. Teresa M. Reyes
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Correspondence to Teresa M. Reyes.

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Grissom, N., Bowman, N. & Reyes, T.M. Epigenetic programming of reward function in offspring: a role for maternal diet. Mamm Genome 25, 41–48 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-013-9487-6

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