Stress, depression, and inherited variation in primate hippocampal and prefrontal brain development.

The search for genetic and environmental risk factors that alter brain growth and emotional development is limited in humans with affective disorders that are triggered or aggravated by stress. Animal models are particularly well suited for the investigation of genetic variation in carefully controlled environments. Here, we illustrate this preclinical approach with a series of studies on early life stress and inherited variation in squirrel monkey hippocampal and prefrontal volumes determined in vivo with magnetic resonance imaging.