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Abstract
The CDC reports that almost 30% of women in the US were diagnosed with maternal obesity in 2019. Maternal obesity is associated with increased risk of early onset neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and mood disorders in children. Although these trends may be driven in part by the improved accuracy regarding our characterization of behavioral phenotypes associated with a neurodevelopmental disorders, there is still much to be learned about their developmental origins. Increasing evidence from epidemiological and preclinical animal models suggest that maternal overnutrition of Western-style diet alters fetal neurodevelopment, and impairs socio-emotional function in offspring. This dissertation explores this hypothesis further and investigates the impact of perinatal maternal WSD (mWSD) exposure within the translatable preclinical macaque (Macaca fuscata) model.