Elevated paternal glucocorticoid exposure modifies memory retention in female offspring

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated that behavioral traits are subject to transgenerational modification by paternal environmental factors. We previously reported on the transgenerational influences of increased paternal stress hormone levels on offspring anxiety and depression-related behaviors. Here, we investigated whether offspring sociability and cognition are also influenced by paternal stress. Adult C57BL/6J male mice were treated with corticosterone (CORT; 25 mg/L) for four weeks prior to paired-matings to generate F1 offspring. Paternal CORT treatment was associated with decreased body weights of female offspring and a marked reduction of the male offspring. There were no differences i..