The added value of rodent models in studying parental influence on offspring development: opportunities, limitations and future perspectives

- Rodent models of parental influence on offspring development offer high level of control.
- They allow specific timing of both environmental and pharmacological interventions.
- In these models, neurobiology can be studied from network to cell to genes.
- Improved reporting of methodological details and meta-analyses are needed.

Over the past decades, the influence of parental care on offspring development has been a topic of extensive research in both human and animal models. Rodent models offer several unique advantages over human studies, allowing for higher levels of environmental control, exploration of interventions, genetic control and examination of underlying neurobiological mechanisms in greater spatiotemporal detail. Although exploitation of these opportunities has led to increased understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying susceptibility to the early-life environment, translation of results to human parenting and child development appears to be challenging. Attuning animal models to the human situation and application of novel structural and functional techniques is therefore of crucial importance to reduce the gap between rodent and human research.