Individuals who experience early adversity are vulnerable to numerous somatic (e.g, obesity, heart disease) and psychological (e.g., anxiety, depression) health consequences later in life. Obesity affects one in six children and more than one-third of all adults in the United States. Current stress indicators range from absence of, or neglect by, the mother to a lack of proper nutrition in young children as well as animal models in research. Currently, little is known regarding long-term consequences for maintaining a healthy body composition following early exposure to single traumatic events. We will address this gap by exposing mice to chronic stress (limited bedding and nesting), or acute early life stress (15 foot shocks). By comparing chronic and acute stressors, we aim to decipher which has a greater impact on obesity and anxiety development. In adulthood, mice will be placed on a high-fat or low-fat diet for four weeks. The high-fat diet promotes the gradual development of obesity within adult mice. At the end of each week, body weight and body composition will be measured using Echo MRI. After four weeks, mice will be tested in an open field arena that introduces an anxiety-inducing bright light gradient. We hypothesize that both chronic and acute stressors will lead to the development of obesity and heightened anxiety behaviors in adulthood. If we observe effects of stress on obesity and anxiety, this model will likely prove very valuable in future investigations since it employs early life stress at precise time points in development. Further, future studies could be aimed at understanding specific neural changes that occur as a result of each early life stressor as well as those changes resulting from prolonged exposure to the high-fat diet that induces obesity to determine whether there is a common neural mechanism to both.
Authors: Meredith Turner, Cielo Guijosa, Kate Krueger, Hannah Brown
Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Quinn, Psychology
Graduate Student Advisors: Brianna Minshall and Amanda Reichert, Psychology
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