Robert M. Sapolsky is in the Departments of Biological Sciences, Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5020, USA. sapolsky@stanford.edu
Frequent licking and grooming by rat mothers increases the number of hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors in their pups, leading to tighter regulation of stress hormone levels. A study in this issue shows that this treatment alters DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene and acetylation of histones early in life, providing a mechanism for these permanent changes in stress responses.
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