O ne in 10 women of reproductive age has a disability. 1 While disabilities vary in their etiology and impact, they can be classified broadly based on common activity limitations. 2,3 Physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries, are those associated with limits to mobility, flexibility, and dexterity; sensory disabilities include vision and hearing impairments; and intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, are associated with limitations in cognitive and adaptive functioning. In the past, stigma associated with disability and sexuality and medical factors, including risks of medication use in pregnancy, limited childbearing in women with disabilities. 4,5 However, with greater recognition of the reproductive rights of persons with disabilities 6 and medical advances, more women with disabilities now experience pregnancy. In fact, the 2008e2012 US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey showed that similar proportions of

Introduction Rat mothers exhibit natural variations in care that propagate between generations of female offspring. However, there is limited information on genetic variation that could influence this propagation. Methods We assessed early‐life maternal care received by individual female rat offspring, later‐life maternal care provisioning, and dopaminergic activity in the maternal brain in relation to naturally occurring genetic polymorphisms linked to the dopaminergic system. We also conducted a systematic analysis of other genetic variants potentially related to maternal behavior in our Long‐Evans rat population. Results While we did not find a direct relationship between early‐life licking received and later‐life licking provisioning, this relationship was indirectly affected by dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens and dependent on variation in the dopamine receptor 2 gene (rs107017253). More specifically, female rat offspring with the A/G genotype showed a positive relationship between average licking received and dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens of the maternal brain; there was no relationship with female rat offspring with the A/A genotype. The higher dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens corresponded with higher maternal licking provisioning from postnatal days 2–9. We also discovered and validated several new variants that were predicted by our systematic analysis. Conclusion Our findings suggest that genetic variation influences the relationship between early‐life maternal care received and the dopaminergic system of the maternal brain, which can indirectly influence later‐life maternal care provisioning.

Thermoregulation is a homeostatic process to maintain an organism’s internal temperature within a physiological range compatible with life. In poikilotherms, body temperature fluctuates with that of the environment, with both physiological and behavioral responses employed to modify body temperature. Changing skin colour/reflectance and locomotor activity are both well-recognized temperature regulatory mechanisms, but little is known of the participating thermosensor/s. We find that Xenopus laevis tadpoles put in the cold exhibit a temperature-dependent, systemic, and rapid melanosome aggregation in melanophores, which lightens the skin. Cooling also induces a reduction in the locomotor performance. To identify the cold-sensor, we focus on transient receptor potential (trp) channel genes from a Trpm family. mRNAs for several Trpms are present in Xenopus tails, and Trpm8 protein is present in skin melanophores. Temperature-induced melanosome aggregation is mimicked by the Trpm8 agonist menthol (WS12) and blocked by a Trpm8 antagonist. The degree of skin lightening induced by cooling is correlated with locomotor performance, and both responses are rapidly regulated in a dose-dependent and correlated manner by the WS12 Trpm8 agonist. We propose that TRPM8 serves as a cool thermosensor in poikilotherms that helps coordinate skin lightening and behavioural locomotor performance as adaptive thermoregulatory responses to cold.