Early Life Adversity Produces Enduring Molecular and Functional Disruption of Developing Vagal Circuits

Early-life adversity alters the adult blood proteome primarily in female mice

Background Early-life adversity (ELA) is one of the strongest predictors of poor mental and physical health later in life, increasing an individual’s risk for disorders ranging from depression to metabolic syndrome. However, whether and how ELA shapes immune memory through adulthood, subsequently affecting susceptibili...

Multilevel sex-influenced neurobiological signatures of early life adversity

This work emphasizes the necessity of considering sex when investigating developmental and neurobiological underpinnings of stress-related disorders and displays a vast range of lasting effects of developmental stress on the brain, which provides a valuable resource for future studies aiming to improve psychiatric trea...

The Importance of Predictability in the Early-Life Environment for Neurodevelopment and Mental Health

Predictability, the degree to which environmental inputs are structured, patterned, and reliably signaled over time, has emerged as a central dimension of early experience with unique implications for brain development, stress physiology, and mental health. This review synthesizes convergent evidence from human and ani...

Early Life Adversity and Oxytocinergic Plasticity: A Cross-Level Framework from Human Evidence and Animal Models.

Early life adversity (ELA) is associated with long-lasting alterations in socio-emotional behavior, stress regulation, and psychopathology risk. A growing literature implicates the oxytocinergic system in these outcomes, yet findings across human and animal studies remain highly heterogeneous. This review advances a cr...

Bile acid signaling as a therapeutically tractable pathway linking early caregiving adversity to social behavior

From Early Adversity to Lifespan Mental Health: The Interplay of Metabolism, Genetics, and Brain Plasticity.

Early life adverse experience, whether prenatal or postnatal, is a prevalent risk factor for altered trajectories of biological development, often culminating in comorbid metabolic and psychiatric disorders in adulthood, which represent a substantial public health burden. In this article, we review evidence that advers...