Traumatic experience and the brain

Abstract

Karlsson L, Marttunen M, Karlsson H. Adverse Experiences and Brain Structures Among Depressed Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatients Heim C, Westen D, Jovanovic T, Binder EB, Crain D, Wingo E, Bradley B: Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Emotional Dysregulation: Moderation by Oxytocin Receptor Gene Quellet-Morin I, Odgers C, Danese A, Bowes L, Shakoor S, Papadopoulos AS, Caspi A, Moffitt TE and Arseneault L: Blunted cortisol responses to stress signals social and behavioural problems among maltreated/bullied 12 year-old children Michael Meaney: Parental regulation of the neural epigenome First study: Three groups from depressed adolescent psychiatric outpatients and their school-based control group in young adulthood were included: 1. subjects with early adverse experience (EAE) and history of depressive disorder, 2. subjects with history of depressive disorder but no EAE, and 3. healthy controls with no EAE. Brain scans were performed using a 3T MR device and volumes of selected brain areas were compared between the groups. Second study: The impact of childhood maltreatment and an oxytocin receptor (OXTR) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs53576, and the interaction of both, on emotional dysregulation and attachment style in adulthood in a sample of low income men and women recruited from primary care clinics. Third study: whether blunted cortisol reactivity to stress observed in children exposed to early-life stress signals social, emotional and behavioral problems. The participants were 190 12 year-old children recruited from the E-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally-representative cohort of families with twins. Cortisol responses to psychosocial stress were measured in maltreated/bullied (n = 64) and comparison children (n = 126). Fourth study is presented by Michael Meaney and its main message is that maternal care shapes the development adaptive behavioral and endocrine responses to stress in mammals. The mechanisms for these involve stable changes in gene expression genes implicated in the regulation of stress responses.