Early maternal care and prenatal alcohol exposure: Impacts on offspring social development via oxytocin receptor epigenetics

• Grant number: 25/15164-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Rosana Camarini
• Grantee: Priscila Marianno
• Supervisor: Patricia Pelufo Silveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: McGill University, Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/08743-1 - Environmental enrichment modulation in the oxytocin system: ethanol exposure effects on maternal behavior and offspring social interaction, BP.PD

Abstract

The quality of early mother-child interactions has lasting effects on the emotional and behavioral development of the offspring, an effect that is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. This project aims to investigate how genetic and epigenetic modifications in genes related to social behavior, with a particular focus on the oxytocin system, moderate the effect of the quality of maternal care during the early years of life on child development . To this end, we will use data from the Canadian longitudinal study Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN), which includes behavioral assessments of mother-child interaction, developmental outcomes, and child genotyping and DNA methylation data, as well as from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which provides information on prenatal alcohol exposure, neurodevelopmental measures, and genotyping. We will develop novel methylation-based scores and expression-based polygenic scores in genes related to the oxytocin system, informed by either the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene co-expression network, as well as by OXTR methylation patterns. The analysis will examine how maternal experiences influence child emotional and behavioral outcomes across development, and the moderation of these effects by genetic and epigenetic processes on genes such as OXTR in the offspring. The findings will contribute to elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of early environmental influences on the trajectory of social behavior and inform strategies for early intervention and support.