Stress early in life shown to take greater toll on brain genes than head trauma

Ben Latham
Fri, 08 Dec 2023 00:22:50 +0000
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According to a recent study by Ohio State researchers, early stress has a greater impact on the brain than head trauma. Credit: Ben Latham | Lantern Reporter

A new study by Ohio State researchers suggests that experiencing stress early on in life leaves a greater impact on the brain than a head injury, reinforcing the need to address negative health issues associated with stress.?

While studying rats, researchers observed greater gene activity due to stress in the hippocampus — the area of the brain responsible for memory, learning and emotion. Michaela Breach, a Ph.D. candidate in Ohio State’s neuroscience graduate program, said it was surprising how stark the difference was between changes in the rats’ gene activities from stress and head trauma.?

“The main thing that really jumped out right away was just the sheer number of genes that are affected by early-life stress relative to traumatic brain injuries,” Breach said.??

The researchers studied the rats under three different circumstances — experiencing stress, receiving a mild head injury and a combination of both — and found that oxytocin signaling, known for regulating social behavior, increased more from stress than from head trauma.

About one-third of the 20,000 genes in humans are primarily expressed in the brain and influence its function, and changes in this gene activity due to environmental factors such as stress or a traumatic brain injury can lead to neurological problems, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Breach said there is “substantial literature” showing that early-life stress caused by adverse childhood experiences — traumatic events such as witnessing or experiencing abuse and violence — can have a negative impact on brain development.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 64 percent of U.S. adults have experienced an adverse childhood experience, which can lead to depression or risk-taking behaviors such as substance abuse.

Breach said the research plays an important role in addressing childhood trauma and that more work must be done to find solutions for how to properly deal with it.

“This is the beginning of research that I think is really going to help deepen our understanding of what we can do to potentially help the brain after these early life experiences,” Breach said.

Kathryn Lenz, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, said the brain must cope and repair itself after experiencing a traumatic injury, but found that stress inhibits that process.

“Under the stressful conditions, we see a shift in the gene expression that suggests the brain can’t compensate the way it normally does,” Lenz said.

Lenz said contributing to more knowledge about the impact of stressors has been a rewarding experience for her research team.

“Stress is a big deal, and it has wide-ranging effects on our health,” Lenz said. “It kind of keeps you going because you know you’re contributing something to a larger mission.”