Background
Prenatal maternal stress (PMS) effect is that phenomenon whereas the stress experienced by a mother during pregnancy or egg formation result in consequences on the phenotype of the offspring.
PMS has been observed to influence the proliferative potential of brain cells, as demonstrated in studies on humans and mice.
However, no study has focused on similar effects in chickens, a precocial specie which at the time of birth has a higher degree of development and independence from the mother.
Prenatal maternal stress may have a more pronounced impact on brain cell composition in chickens due to the fact that it has a larger neurodevelopmental time window to act upon.
Aim
In this study, I examine the influence of PMS on brain cell composition by quantifying both neuronal and non-neuronal cell counts in chickens whose mothers underwent stress induction via exogenous corticosterone implantation.