IUBio

extreme trauma in early brain development

F. Frank LeFever flefever at ix.netcom.com
Sun May 9 11:23:21 EST 1999


There are many events intervening between sociological events and brain
mechanisms, not the least of which are the reactions of the child's
caretakers.  Relevant neurohumoral level events are likely to be
obscured by the noise of so many variables at so many levels.

There is research on the impact of stress to the extent that it is
mediated through the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, for
example Bruce McEwen's many studies (do lit search on his name).

There is one example of a line of research which tracks events from
higher levels to lower ones, i.e effect of infant isolation, subsequent
maternal response, alterations in glucocorticoid receptors in the
brain, and thus long-term effects on responses to stress, and on brain
development: do lit search on Michael (M.J.?) Meaney et al. (I've
posted specific references in the past, but do not have them handy
right now.)

F. Frank LeFever, Ph.D.
New York Neuropsychology Group



In <7h2a9b$n03$1 at bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net> "A. Getchel"
<uhoh_1999 at hotmail.com> writes: 
>
>does anyone know of any studies that explore how a baby's brain
develops
>under extreme stress? like massive disruption of family life and
external
>crisises?
>
>




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