Early-life stress (ELS) can deeply alter brain development and lead to long-lasting mental health problems, according to a new study published in Neuron. 

 “Early-life stress is common and constitutes a strong risk factor for cognitive and mental health disorders,” says the study adding, however, that much remains unclear about how young brains perceive and respond to stress.

Importantly, the researchers emphasize that ELS “is not a unitary entity.” Different kinds of stress, such as “threat and deprivation,” can have distinct effects. For example, “children exposed to a high degree of threat may preferentially attend to threatening or negative pictures,” while “children experiencing deprivation may do poorly in identifying emotions.” This means that early experiences shape how children process emotions and information in very different ways.

A particularly new focus in the field is the role of unpredictability in early life. The researchers Matthew T. Birnie and Tallie Z. Baram point out that “unpredictable sensory signals from the parents/caregivers and the environment… contribute significantly to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.” The study even notes that such unpredictability can raise the risk of depression “∼12-fold, even in the absence of other significant ACEs (adverse childhood experiences).”

Economic toll of childhood trauma 

The researchers stress that the economic toll of early-life stress is massive, with the annual economic burden of ACEs… skyrocketing to approximately $14 trillion” following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers call for urgent research into “which molecules mediate the effects of stress on brain operations” and how “transient stressful experiences can lead to enduring emotional and cognitive dysfunctions.” They underline the importance of studying these effects in animal models to uncover the biological mechanisms behind the long-term impacts.

With more than 60% of US adults having experienced at least one form of early-life stress, the authors conclude that “the sheer magnitude of early-life stress, and its potential long-term mental and physical health impacts, demands a concerted effort to better understand its nature and the mechanisms by which it influences us to enable its prevention and mitigation.”

Also read: Study: Childhood vaccinations in India have reduced antibiotic use – First Check