Sensitive windows, sensitive outcomes: Early or late-postnatal maternal separation differentially impacts puberty and behavior

LES. Together, these findings demonstrate that MS exerts distinct, sex-specific effects on pubertal maturation and behavior depending on the developmental window of adversity. By demonstrating window and sex-dependent effects on pubertal development, anxiety-like behavior, social interaction, and cognition, this work highlights developmental timing and sex as key determinants of early-life stress outcomes and underscores the importance of distinguishing discrete postnatal periods when modeling the consequences of early caregiving disruption.