early life events influence life-long patterns of emotionality and stress responsiveness and alter the rate of brain and body aging.  much research attention has focused on the programming effects of the hypothalamus pituitary axis (hpa) in early life and on understanding hpa function in response to stressors in adulthood. in comparison, there has been relatively little research on adolescence,...

Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which then modulates the degree of adaptation and response to a later stressor. It is known that early-life stress can impact on later health but less is known about how early-life stress impairs HPA axis activity, contributing to maladaptation of the stress-response system. Early-life stress exposure (either prenatally or in the e...

nloaded s perspective on Boyd et al. (beginning on page 1398 in this issue of the journal) discusses recent hed research examining the interplay between social stress and breast cancer. Cross-disciplinary s using genetically defined mouse models and established neonatal and peripubertal paradigms ial stress are illuminating biological programming by diverse early-life experiences for the risk o...

The pathogenesis of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), the most prevalent form of refractory focal epilepsy in adults, is thought to begin in early life, even though seizures may not commence until adolescence or adulthood. Amongst the range of early life factors implicated in MTLE causation (febrile seizures, traumatic brain injury, etc.), stress may be one important contributor. Early life...

Early life stress has been shown to exert profound short- and long-term effects on human physiology both in the central nervous system and peripherally. Early life stress has demonstrated clear association with many psychiatric disorders including major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistics Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic cate...