Prenatal Programming, Cortisol
The evidence that phenotype is set partially based on prenatal hormonal exposure is overall strong. Such effects make sense within the evolutionary psychology framework.
Hormone levels that a developing fetus experiences can result in long-lasting phenotypic differences in the individual. Because the maternal blood supply is the route by which a fetus will be exposed, mother’s levels – and her experiences – can affect development.
High levels of stress during pregnancy result in higher levels of the hormone cortisol as does exogenous ingestion of certain medicines (e.g., steroids) or certain foods (i.e., licorice). In any case, there is evidence that exposure of the fetus during prenatal development will alter early programming, causing differences in metabolism and other physiological parameters. The effects are long term or permanent. Combined with experimental methods employing animal models (see Weinstock 2008), there is converging evidence...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bergman, K., Sarkar, P., Glover, V., & O’Connor, T. G. (2010). Maternal prenatal cortisol and infant cognitive development: Moderation by infant mother attachment. Biological Psychology, 67(11), 1026–1032.
Buss, C., Poggi-Davis, E., Shahbaba, B., Pruessner, J. C., Head, J., & Sandman, C. A. (2012). Maternal cortisol over the course of pregnancy and subsequent child amygdala and hippocampus volumes and affective problems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, 1312–1319.
Li, Y., He, Y., Qi, L., Jaddoe, V. W., Feskens, E. J. M., Yang, X., Ma, G., & Hu, F. B. (2010). Exposure to the Chinese famine in early life and the risk of hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. Diabetes, 59, 2400–2406.
O’Connor, T. G., Bengman, K., Sorkar, P., & Glover, V. (2013). Prenatal cortisol exposure predicts infant cortisol response to acute stress. Developmental Psychobiology, 55(2), 145–155.
Reynolds, R. M. (2010). Corticosteroid mediated programming and the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 122, 3–9.
Reynolds, R. M. (2013). Glucocorticoid excess and the developing origins of disease: Two decades of testing the hypothesis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38, 1–11.
Weinstock, M. (2008). The long-term behavioral consequences of prenatal stress. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 32(6), 1073–1086.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
DeSoto, C. (2017). Hormone Effects on Human Fetal Development. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3630-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3630-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences