Early Life Stress Has Effects at the Molecular Level
by Lin Edwards in PhysOrg.com:
A new study of mice suggests that stress and trauma in early life can have an impact on the genes and result in behavioral problems later in life.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, looked at the long-term effects of stress mice suffered soon after their birth. The stress was produced by separating the mouse pups from their mothers for three hours a day for the first ten days of their lives. The separation did not affect their nutrition but would have made them feel abandoned. The pups were then followed through their lives.
The researchers found the stress caused the baby mice to produce hormones that altered their genes and affected their later behavior, making them less able to cope with stress…
