Early-life stress sensitizes response to future stress: Evidence and mechanisms

Abstract

Early-life stress sensitizes individuals to additional stressors and increases lifetime risk for mood and anxiety disorders. Research in both human populations and rodent models of early-life stress have sought to determine how different types of stressors contribute to vulnerability, and whether there are developmental sensitive periods for such effects. Although differences in the type and timing of rodent early-life stress paradigms have led to differences in specific behavioral outcomes, this complexity is present among humans as well. Robust rodent research now shows how early-life stress increases sensitivity to future stressors at behavioral, neural circuit, and molecular levels. These recent discoveries are laying the foundation for translation to more effective interventions relevant for those who experienced childhood stress and trauma.