It is well known that early-life stress during the perinatal period induces irreversible changes in the brain. Early-life stress during childhood persistently impairs cognitive and emotional functions until adulthood in humans. Stress-induced abnormal neuronal activity and hormonal secretion affect neurological development such as dendrite arborization, synaptogenesis, and spine formation. These perinatal stress-induced morphological changes may alter the brain function throughout the lifetime. However, it has not yet been clarified how the type, intensity and duration of stress affect different brain regions with varying persistence. The effects of stress experienced during the perinatal period on brain function extend to old age. Furthermore, early-life stress induces neglect behavior of early-life-stressed mothers, which was detected in the offspring of early-life-stressed mothers in humans. This finding indicates that early-life stress induces severe effects not only on the individual directly exposed to stress but also on its offspring.
There are many studies on the effect of early-life stress on brain development. However, we still do not clearly understand it well because the changes are too wide, deep, and take a long-time to manifest. Because of this reason, survivors of early-life stress (including offspring) suffer from several problems such as mental diseases their whole life and we still don’t know sufficient ways to treat them completely. Especially, the multi-generation effect which induces prolonged trouble in humans. Thus, the goal of this Research Topic is to bring together studies exploring the phenomena on brain development that is induced by early-life stress, clarify the mechanisms of the phenomena, and find ways to treat the survivors of early-life stress.
For this purpose, if the early-life stress context is part of the study, we welcome also broader studies on the following topics:
1) Neuroendocrinology and neuroimmunology
2) If it affects the brain function, the study on nonbrain regions, such as the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and other systems
3) The study of long-term change, such as multi-generation (e.g., maternal behavior of early-life-stressed mother)
All research methods are welcome, from molecular to behavioral, both human (including clinical reports) and animal studies. We encourage submissions with data results comparing humans and animals on this topic. However, separate studies are also welcome.
It is well known that early-life stress during the perinatal period induces irreversible changes in the brain. Early-life stress during childhood persistently impairs cognitive and emotional functions until adulthood in humans. Stress-induced abnormal neuronal activity and hormonal secretion affect neurological development such as dendrite arborization, synaptogenesis, and spine formation. These perinatal stress-induced morphological changes may alter the brain function throughout the lifetime. However, it has not yet been clarified how the type, intensity and duration of stress affect different brain regions with varying persistence. The effects of stress experienced during the perinatal period on brain function extend to old age. Furthermore, early-life stress induces neglect behavior of early-life-stressed mothers, which was detected in the offspring of early-life-stressed mothers in humans. This finding indicates that early-life stress induces severe effects not only on the individual directly exposed to stress but also on its offspring.
There are many studies on the effect of early-life stress on brain development. However, we still do not clearly understand it well because the changes are too wide, deep, and take a long-time to manifest. Because of this reason, survivors of early-life stress (including offspring) suffer from several problems such as mental diseases their whole life and we still don’t know sufficient ways to treat them completely. Especially, the multi-generation effect which induces prolonged trouble in humans. Thus, the goal of this Research Topic is to bring together studies exploring the phenomena on brain development that is induced by early-life stress, clarify the mechanisms of the phenomena, and find ways to treat the survivors of early-life stress.
For this purpose, if the early-life stress context is part of the study, we welcome also broader studies on the following topics:
1) Neuroendocrinology and neuroimmunology
2) If it affects the brain function, the study on nonbrain regions, such as the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and other systems
3) The study of long-term change, such as multi-generation (e.g., maternal behavior of early-life-stressed mother)
All research methods are welcome, from molecular to behavioral, both human (including clinical reports) and animal studies. We encourage submissions with data results comparing humans and animals on this topic. However, separate studies are also welcome.
