Frances A. Champagne is a Canadian psychologist and University Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin known for her research in the fields of molecular neuroscience, maternal behavior, and epigenetics. Research in the Champagne lab explores the developmental plasticity that occurs in response to environmental experiences.[1] She is known for her work on the epigenetic transmission of maternal behavior. Frances Champagne's research has revealed how natural variations in maternal behavior can shape the behavioral development of offspring through epigenetic changes in gene expression in a brain region specific manner.[2] She won the NIH Director's New Innovator Award in 2007[3] and the Frank A. Beach Young Investigator Award in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology in 2009.[4] She has been described as the "bee's knees of neuroscience".[5] She serves on the Committee on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development Among Children and Youth in the United States.[6]
Champagne received her B.A. degree in psychology at Queen's University, Canada. She attended graduate school at McGill University, Canada where she obtained both her M.Sc degree in Psychiatry and a PhD degree in Neuroscience where she studied under the mentorship of Michael Meaney.[7] Champagne completed her postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge in England, where she studied animal behavior. Champagne was hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University in New York City in 2006. Upon tenure-review, she was promoted to Associate Profession, a position she remained until 2017. From 2016 to 2017, Dr. Champagne also served as the Vice Chair in the Department of Psychology.[8] In 2017, she began her current tenure at University of Texas at Austin as a full professor in the Department of Psychology. She maintains her affiliation with Columbia University as an adjunct associate professor within the department of psychology.[2] As a full professor, she teaches courses including but not limited to the developing brain, behavioral epigenetics and ethics, genetics and the brain.[9]
Research
Champagne's research has examined the neurobiology of the parental brain including neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in maternal behavior and the effects of the environment on these neural circuits. Another main research interest is the epigenetic effects of maternal behavior and how epigenetic variation emerge in response to variation in mother-infant interactions experienced during development. She also researches prenatal programming of offspring development and the impact of prenatal exposure to stress, toxins, or nutritional variation on placental and offspring brain gene expression. Paternal-maternal interplay and offspring development is another research main interest of Champagne and is the impact of fathers on mothers and offspring and the epigenetic mechanisms through which this interplay occurs. In addition, she is interested in exploring ways to ameliorate the negative effects of adverse prenatal and postnatal experiences on development by investigating the epigenetic mechanisms that allow offspring to overcome or be resilient to such early life experiences.
Champagne has investigated the epigenetic mechanisms via which individual variation in reproductive and social behavior can be induced via variation in early (prenatal and postnatal) life experiences. She has explored the interplay between mothers and fathers in the development of offspring and transgenerational effects of early life experiences.[2]
In her new Epigenetics, Development & Neuroscience Lab, she and her lab members explore the changes that can occur throughout development as a result of environmental conditions. Most notably, the effect of prenatal exposure to bisphenols on mother and infant epigenetic and behavioral outcomes. This work is funded through the National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences. Bisphenols, including but not limited to Bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA have previously been shown to be endocrine disrupting.[10]
Additionally, she is a co-investigator continuing the Boricua Youth Study that began at Columbia University, a longitudinal study aimed at understanding the risks and protective factors that Puerto Rican youth experience.[11] This project is funded through the National Institute on Child Health Development.
Lastly and most recently, she served on the committee for the Parental Brain Conference in 2018, a meeting focused on the biological and behavioral perspectives in parental health during the summer of 2018.[12]
Champagne FA (2018) Epigenetic and Multigenerational Impact of Adversity. In Violence Against Children: Making Human Rights Real. Edited by: Lenzer G, Routledge. Abstract
Champagne FA (2016) Epigenetic legacy of parental experiences: Dynamic and interactive pathways to inheritance. Dev Psychopathol 28(4pt2):1219-1228. PMID 27687718
Stolzenberg D & Champagne FA (2016) Hormonal and Non-hormonal bases of maternal behavior: The role of experience and epigenetic mechanisms. Hormones & Behavior 77:204-10. PMID 26172856
Miller RL, Yana Z, Mahera C, Zhanga H, Gudsnuk K, McDonalde J, Champagne FA (2016) Impact of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on behavior, cortical gene expression, and DNA methylation of the Bdnf gene. Neuroepigenetics 5: 11–18. PMID 27088078
Jensen Peña C, Champagne FA (2015) Neonatal over-expression of estrogen receptor-α alters midbrain dopamine neuron development and reverses the effects of low maternal care in female offspring. Developmental Neurobiology 75(10):1114-24. PMID 25044746
Kundakovic M, Gudsnuk K, Herbstman JB, Tang D, Perera FP, Champagne FA (2015) DNA methylation of BDNF as a biomarker of early-life adversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 12(22):6807-13. PMID 25385582
Tost H, Champagne FA, Meyer-Lindenberg A (2015) Environmental influence in the brain, human welfare and mental health. Nature Neuroscience 18(10):1421-31.
Tang G, Gudsnuk K, Kuo SH, Cotrina M, Rosoklija G, Sosunov A, Sonders M, Kanter E, Castagna C, Yamamoto A, Yue Z, Arancio O, Peterson BS, Champagne FA, Dwork A, Goldman J, Sulzer D (2014) Loss of mTOR-dependent macroautophagy causes autistic-like synaptic pruning deficits. Neuron 83(5):1131-43. PMID 25155956
Champagne FA (2011) Maternal imprints and the origins of variation. Hormones & Behavior 60(1):4- 11. PMID 21376726
Gudsnuk KM, Champagne FA (2011) Epigenetic effects of early developmental experiences. Clinics in Perinatology 38(4):703-17. PMID 22107899
Curley JP, Rock V, Moynihan AM, Bateson P, Keverne EB, Champagne FA (2010) Developmental shifts in the behavioral phenotypes of inbred mice: the role of postnatal and juvenile social experiences. Behavior Genetics 40(2):220-32. PMC2862468
Champagne FA (2010) Early adversity and developmental outcomes: Interaction between genetics, epigenetics and social experiences across the lifespan. Perspectives on Psychological Science 5(5) 564– 574. PMID 26162197
Champagne FA (2010) Epigenetic influence of social experiences across the lifespan. Developmental Psychobiology 52(4):299-311. PMID 20175106
Wan M, Kubinyi E, Miklósi A, Champagne FA (2009) A cross-cultural comparison of reports by German Shepherd Owners in Hungary and the United States of America. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 121: 206–213. Abstract.
Curley JP, Davidson S, Bateson P & Champagne FA (2009) Social enrichment during postnatal development induces transgenerational effects on emotional and reproductive behavior in mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 3:25 PMID 19826497
Champagne FA, Curley JP, Hasen N, Swaney WT & Keverne EB (2009) Paternal influence on female behavior: The role of Peg3 in exploration, olfaction and neuroendocrine regulation of maternal behavior of female mice. Behavioral Neuroscience 123(3):469-80. PMID 19485553
Curley JP, Jordan E, Swaney WT, Izrealit A, Kammel S & Champagne FA (2009) The meaning of weaning: Influence of the weaning period on behavioral development in mice. Developmental Neuroscience 31(4):318-31. PMID 19546569
Fagiolini M, Jensen CL, & Champagne FA (2009) Epigenetic influences on brain development and plasticity. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 19(2): 207–212. PMID 19545993
Champagne FA & Mashoodh R (2009) Genes in context: Gene-environment interplay and the origins of individual differences in behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science 18(3): 127–131. PDF
Champagne FA (2009) Nurturing Nature: Social experiences and the brain. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 21(10):867-8. PMID 19686450
Champagne FA, Curley JP (2008) Maternal regulation of estrogen receptor alpha methylation. Current Opinion in Pharmacology 8(5): 963–73. PMID 18644464
Champagne FA (2008) Epigenetic mechanisms and the transgenerational effects of maternal care. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 29(3): 386–397. PMID 18462782
Champagne FA, Curley JP, Keverne EB, Bateson PPG (2007) Natural variations in postpartum maternal care in inbred and outbred mice. Physiology & Behavior 91(2-3):325-34. PMID 17477940
Champagne FA, Meaney MJ (2007) Transgenerational effects of social environment on variations in maternal care and behavioral response to novelty. Behavioral Neuroscience 121(6): 1353–63. PMID 18085888
Champagne FA, Weaver ICG, Diorio J, Szyf M, Meaney MJ (2006) Maternal care associated with methylation of the estrogen receptor alpha 1b promoter and estrogen receptor alpha expression in the medial preoptic area of female offspring. Endocrinology 147(6): 2909–2915. PMID 16513834
Champagne FA, Meaney MJ (2006) Stress during gestation alters maternal care and the development of offspring in a rodent model. Biological Psychiatry 59(12):1227-35. PMID 16457784
Champagne FA, Curley JP (2005) How social experiences influence the brain. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 15(6):704-9. PMID: 16260130
Champagne FA, Chretien P, Stevenson CW, Zhang TY, Gratton A, Meaney MJ (2004) Variations in nucleus accumbens dopamine associated with individual differences in maternal behavior in the rat. Journal of Neuroscience 24(17):4113-23. PMID 15115806
Champagne FA, Weaver IC, Diorio J, Sharma S, Meaney MJ (2003) Natural variations in maternal care are associated with estrogen receptor alpha expression and estrogen sensitivity in the medial preoptic area. Endocrinology 144(11):4720-4. PMID 12959970
Champagne F, Francis DD., Mar A, Meaney MJ (2003) Naturally-occurring variations in maternal care in the rat as a mediating influence for the effects of environment on the development of individual differences in stress reactivity. Physiology & Behavior 79:359-371. PMID 12954431
Champagne F, Diorio J, Sharma S, Meaney MJ (2001) Naturally occurring variations in maternal behavior in the rat are associated with differences in estrogen-inducible central oxytocin receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98(22):12736-41. PMID 11606726
Champagne F, Meaney MJ (2001) Like mother, like daughter: evidence for non-genomic transmission of parental behavior and stress responsivity. Progress in Brain Research 133:287-302. PMID 11589138
The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is a complex set of direct influences and feedback interactions among three components: the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. These organs and their interactions constitute the HPA axis.
A maternal effect is a situation where the phenotype of an organism is determined not only by the environment it experiences and its genotype, but also by the environment and genotype of its mother. In genetics, maternal effects occur when an organism shows the phenotype expected from the genotype of the mother, irrespective of its own genotype, often due to the mother supplying messenger RNA or proteins to the egg. Maternal effects can also be caused by the maternal environment independent of genotype, sometimes controlling the size, sex, or behaviour of the offspring. These adaptive maternal effects lead to phenotypes of offspring that increase their fitness. Further, it introduces the concept of phenotypic plasticity, an important evolutionary concept. It has been proposed that maternal effects are important for the evolution of adaptive responses to environmental heterogeneity.
Developmental psychobiology is an interdisciplinary field, encompassing developmental psychology, biological psychology, neuroscience and many other areas of biology. The field covers all phases of ontogeny, with particular emphasis on prenatal, perinatal and early childhood development. Conducting research into basic aspects of development, for example, the development of infant attachment, sleep, eating, thermoregulation, learning, attention and acquisition of language occupies most developmental psychobiologists. At the same time, they are actively engaged in research on applied problems such as sudden infant death syndrome, the development and care of the preterm infant, autism, and the effects of various prenatal insults on the development of brain and behavior.
Prenatal stress is exposure of an expectant mother to psychosocial or physical stress, which can be caused by daily life events or by environmental hardships. This psychosocial or physical stress that the expectant mother is experiencing has an effect on the fetus. According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), a wide range of environmental factors a woman may experience during the perinatal period can contribute to biological impacts and changes in the fetus that then causes health risks later in the child's life.
C. Sue Carter is an American biologist and behavioral neurobiologist. She is an internationally recognized expert in behavioral neuroendocrinology. In 2014 she was appointed Director of The Kinsey Institute and Rudy Professor of Biology at Indiana University. Carter was the first person to identify the physiological mechanisms responsible for social monogamy.
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender, or none of the aforementioned at all. The ultimate causes and mechanisms of sexual orientation development in humans remain unclear and many theories are speculative and controversial. However, advances in neuroscience explain and illustrate characteristics linked to sexual orientation. Studies have explored structural neural-correlates, functional and/or cognitive relationships, and developmental theories relating to sexual orientation in humans.
Michael J. Meaney, CM, CQ, FRSC, is a professor at McGill University specializing in biological psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery, who is primarily known for his research on stress, maternal care, and gene expression. His research team has "discovered the importance of maternal care in modifying the expression of genes that regulate behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to stress, as well as hippocampal synaptic development" in animal studies. The research has implications for domestic and public policy for maternal support and its role in human disease prevention and economic health.
The hormonal theory of sexuality holds that, just as exposure to certain hormones plays a role in fetal sex differentiation, such exposure also influences the sexual orientation that emerges later in the individual. Prenatal hormones may be seen as the primary determinant of adult sexual orientation, or a co-factor with genes, biological factors and/or environmental and social conditions.
Nutriepigenomics is the study of food nutrients and their effects on human health through epigenetic modifications. There is now considerable evidence that nutritional imbalances during gestation and lactation are linked to non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. If metabolic disturbances occur during critical time windows of development, the resulting epigenetic alterations can lead to permanent changes in tissue and organ structure or function and predispose individuals to disease.
Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is the transmission of epigenetic markers and modifications from one generation to multiple subsequent generations without altering the primary structure of DNA. Thus, the regulation of genes via epigenetic mechanisms can be heritable; the amount of transcripts and proteins produced can be altered by inherited epigenetic changes. In order for epigenetic marks to be heritable, however, they must occur in the gametes in animals, but since plants lack a definitive germline and can propagate, epigenetic marks in any tissue can be heritable.
Transgenerational trauma is the psychological and physiological effects that the trauma experienced by people has on subsequent generations in that group. The primary modes of transmission are the uterine environment during pregnancy causing epigenetic changes in the developing embryo, and the shared family environment of the infant causing psychological, behavioral and social changes in the individual. The term intergenerational transmission refers to instances whereby the traumatic effects are passed down from the directly traumatized generation [F0] to their offspring [F1], and transgenerational transmission is when the offspring [F1] then pass the effects down to descendants who have not been exposed to the initial traumatic event - at least the grandchildren [F2] of the original sufferer for males, and their great-grandchildren [F3] for females.
Parental experience, as well as changing hormone levels during pregnancy and postpartum, cause changes in the parental brain. Displaying maternal sensitivity towards infant cues, processing those cues and being motivated to engage socially with her infant and attend to the infant's needs in any context could be described as mothering behavior and is regulated by many systems in the maternal brain. Research has shown that hormones such as oxytocin, prolactin, estradiol and progesterone are essential for the onset and the maintenance of maternal behavior in rats, and other mammals as well. Mothering behavior has also been classified within the basic drives.
Behavioral epigenetics is the field of study examining the role of epigenetics in shaping animal and human behavior. It seeks to explain how nurture shapes nature, where nature refers to biological heredity and nurture refers to virtually everything that occurs during the life-span. Behavioral epigenetics attempts to provide a framework for understanding how the expression of genes is influenced by experiences and the environment to produce individual differences in behaviour, cognition, personality, and mental health.
The development of an animal model of autism is one approach researchers use to study potential causes of autism. Given the complexity of autism and its etiology, researchers often focus only on single features of autism when using animal models.
Endocrinology of parenting has been the subject of considerable study with focus both on human females and males and on females and males of other mammalian species. Parenting as an adaptive problem in mammals involves specific endocrine signals that were naturally selected to respond to infant cues and environmental inputs. Infants across species produce a number of cues to inform caregivers of their needs. These include visual cues, like facial characteristics, or in some species smiling, auditory cues, such as vocalizations, olfactory cues, and tactile stimulation. A commonly mentioned hormone in parenting is oxytocin, however many other hormones relay key information that results in variations in behavior. These include estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, cortisol, and testosterone. While hormones are not necessary for the expression of maternal behavior, they may influence it.
Epigenetics of anxiety and stress–related disorders is the field studying the relationship between epigenetic modifications of genes and anxiety and stress-related disorders, including mental health disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and more. These change can lead to transgenerational stress inheritance.
Fetal programming, also known as prenatal programming, is the theory that environmental cues experienced during fetal development play a seminal role in determining health trajectories across the lifespan.
Rosemary C. Bagot is a Canadian neuroscientist who researches the mechanisms of altered brain function in depression. She is an assistant professor in behavioral neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her focus in behavioral neuroscience is on understanding the mechanisms of altered brain circuit function in depression. Employing a multidisciplinary approach, Bagot investigates why only some people who experience stress become depressed.
Tracy Bale is an American neuroscientist and molecular biologist. Bale is a professor and Director of the Center for Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her research has centered on the role of parental, prenatal, and early life stress on the developing brain and subsequent behavior throughout the lifespan. She is also the current President of the International Brain Research Organization.
Staci Bilbo is an American neuroimmunologist and The Haley Family Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Bilbo also holds a position as a research affiliate at Massachusetts General Hospital overseeing research within the Lurie Center for Autism. As the principal investigator of the Bilbo Lab, Bilbo investigates how environmental challenges during the perinatal period impact the immune system and further influence brain development, cognition, and affective behaviors later in life..
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
