imprinting

imprinting /im·print·ing/ (im´print-ing) a species-specific, rapid kind of learning during a critical period of early life in which social attachment and identification are established.

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im·print·ing (mprntng)

n.

A learning process occurring early in the life of a social animal in which a specific behavior pattern is established through association with a parent or other role model.

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Imprinting

Process that silences a gene or group of genes. The genes are silenced depending on if they are inherited through the egg or the sperm.

Mentioned in: Prader-Willi Syndrome

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imprinting

Etymology: Fr, empreindre, to impress

(in ethology) a special type of learning that occurs at critical points during the early stages of development in animals. It involves behavioral patterning and social attachment, is characterized by rapid acquisition and irreversibility, and is usually species-specific, although animals exposed to members of a different species during this short period may become attached to and identify with that particular species instead of their own. The degree to which imprinting occurs in human development has not been determined. See also bonding.

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imprinting

a kind of learning in the very young based mainly on maternal attachment and acquisition of basic behavior patterns.

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imprinting

Molecular biology The variable phenotypic expression of a gene, depending on paternal or maternal origin, a function of the methylation pattern; imprinted regions are more methylated and less transcriptionally active; the 'imprints' are erased and generated in early embryonic development of mammals Examples Insulin-like growth factor-2 and its receptor, fragile X syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Angelmann/happy puppet syndrome, Wilms' tumor. Cf Allele, Gene, Genomic imprinting, Inheritance, Locus Psychology Developmental learning restricted to certain early, critical or sensitive time periods of life, which stops when definitive learning occurs or when a critical period has passed; it is irreversible and characteristic of the species of organism being imprinted. See Critical period.