Early-life stress increases the prevalence of psychiatric diseases associated with emotional dysregulation. Emotional regulation requires the inhibitory influence of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) on amygdalar activity, and dysfunction of this system is believed to induce anxiety. Because mPFC and amygdala have dense reciprocal connections and projections between them continue to develop until adolescence, early-life stress may impair the function of this circuit and cause emotional dysregulation. We examined the effects of stress during circuit development on anxiety-like behaviors, neural activities in the mPFC and amygdala, and impulse transmission in the mPFC-amygdala circuit in adult rats. Early-life stress, unpredictable stress twice a day for 12 days following early weaning, increased anxiety-like behaviors in the open-field and elevated plus-maze tests. In the open-field test, stress altered Fos expression in the mPFC and amygdala. Compared to non-stressed rats, which were exposed to neither unpredictable stress nor early weaning, stressed rats exhibited decreased Fos expression in the right superficial layers of the infralimbic cortex and increased Fos expression in the right basolateral amygdala and both sides of the central amygdala. Electrophysiological analysis revealed that excitatory latencies of mPFC neurons to amygdalar stimulation in stressed rats were significantly longer than control rats in the right, but not left, hemisphere. Stress had no effect on excitatory latencies of amygdalar neurons to mPFC stimulation in the mPFC-amygdala circuits in the both hemisphere. These data suggest that early-life stress impairs the mPFC-amygdala circuit development, resulting in imbalanced mPFC and amygdala activities and anxiety-like behaviors.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12825 | DOI Listing |
J Clin Psychiatry
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India, Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neurotoxicology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India
Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing; the study of adverse outcomes in cannabis-exposed pregnancies is therefore important. Previous articles in this series described increased risks of maternal adverse outcomes, fetal adverse outcomes, birth defects in newborns, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood. This article examines neuropsychiatric adverse outcomes in offspring gestationally exposed to cannabis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDialogues Clin Neurosci
December 2025
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Introduction: Depression includes different phenotypes. Modern-type depression (MTD) is a gateway disorder to pathological social withdrawal, known as hikikomori. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are also important aetiologies of depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Child Fam Stud
March 2024
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Early identification and interventions are imperative for mitigating the harmful effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Nonetheless, a substantial barrier persists in identifying adolescents experiencing ACEs. One understudied avenue for early identification of ACEs is through the examination of somatic symptoms endorsed by adolescents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Menopausal Med
December 2024
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Korea.
The interest in aging and anti-aging research has increased significantly in recent years, leading to rapid expansion in the anti-aging market. Aging is associated with gradual physiological changes and an elevated risk of age-related ailments, and is divided into three categories: usual aging, successful aging, and pathological aging. Each category is associated with distinct implications for health and well-being.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChild Abuse Negl
January 2025
Department of Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, hongi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Backgrounds: Menstruation-related symptoms are a common and serious health problem even without a specific diagnosis such as premenstrual dysphoric mood disorder (PMDD) or dysmenorrhea. Various adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) might be associated with menstruation-related symptoms, not only traditional traumatic events such as abuse, but also expanded ACEs such as childhood poverty, school bullying, or natural disasters.
Objective: This study examined the association between expanded ACEs (ACEs for Japanese) and menstruation-related symptoms among Japanese working women.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!