A novel multidimensional, perinatal social and material deprivation paradigm induces aggressive behavior and cortical gene expression reprogramming in young adult mice

Abstract

Poverty is a complex, multidimensional stressor that affects both physical and mental health outcomes. Current animal models often isolate single aspects of socioeconomic adversity, limiting their translational relevance. This study introduces a novel murine model of social and material deprivation (SMD) designed to simulate the co-occurrence of environmental impoverishment and social stress observed in real-world settings.

During gestation and lactation pregnant mice and their litters were exposed to a combination of reduced nesting/bedding material, lack of cage enrichment, maternal separation with early weaning, and threat from a dominant male. Behavioral tests, brain morphology assessments, and prefrontal cortex gene expression analyses were performed in the offspring, considering sex as a biological variable throughout.

SMD dams displayed increased depressive-like behavior and maladaptive coping strategies, along with reduced maternal care. Offspring exhibited delayed neurodevelopment, increased anxiety-like behavior and aggression in males, and structural brain alterations, including reduced dorsal (females) and ventral (both sexes) hippocampal area, and increased prefrontal cortex width in both sexes.

Transcriptomic analyses of the prefrontal cortex revealed sex-specific patterns: in males, genes involved in neuronal development and immune function were predominantly upregulated; in females, chromatin remodeling genes were upregulated, while immune-related genes were downregulated.

The SMD model recapitulates key behavioral, morphological, and molecular features associated with early-life adversity and socioeconomic disadvantage, offering a valuable tool to investigate sex-specific neurobiological responses to complex stress exposure during sensitive developmental windows.