Early Life Adversity Causes Changes in the Brain Depending on the Generation

Friday - October 6 2023, 04:58 UTC - 1 year ago

This study was conducted to explore the effects of early-life adversities (ELAs) on neurological functioning and anxiety responses in later generations. The study found that these effects could be passed down to the next generations and that a drug called amiloride had the potential to reverse these negative effects. The study also found that the early-life adversities lineage were more sensitive to pain than mouse lineages with normal rearing, and that inhalation of amiloride reversed the responses. The study was published in the journal Science Advances on October 4th, 2023.

According to the National Library of Medicine, Early life adversity (ELA) involves exposure to environmental circumstances during childhood or adolescence that are likely to require significant psychological, behavioral, or neurobiological adaptation by an average child and that represent a deviation from the expected environment. Recently, a study was conducted to explore the effects of early-life adversities (ELAs) on neurological functioning and anxiety responses in later generations .

The study aimed to understand how the difficulties of early life experiences, such as separation from mothers, affected mice. Researchers wanted to examine if these experiences could cause neurological changes in the functioning of mice's brains, leading to anxiety and panic later in life. They found that these effects could be passed down to the next generations. Amiloride to the rescue Scientists further discovered that a drug called amiloride has the potential to reverse these negative effects .

This drug is inhibited by ASIC. This gene is essential for detecting pH changes in the nervous system’s ion channels. These molecular changes in the brain create what scientists call "biological memories," which can show up as feelings of anxiety or panic in adulthood. A statement by the researchers stated that this molecular change can be transmitted over three generations of mice. This can, however, be reversed through inhalation of amiloride, an FDA-approved drug .

This discovery could aid in the treatment of individuals suffering from panic disorders who have undergone similar early life adversities (ELAs). Initial experiments showed that when mice separated from their mothers and were ‘cross-fostered’ by different caregivers in early life, they displayed increased activity of ASIC1. The team led by Marco Battaglia tested the sensitivity of ELA-exposed mice and two subsequent generations unexposed to ELA to various aversive stimuli, the statement reported .

Early-life adversities lineage more sensitive to pain The scientists paired the mice with new "adoptive" mothers every 24 hours for four days within the first week of life. Afterward, they placed the young mice back in normal rearing conditions and let the mice exposed to early life adversities mate for two more generations. The study reported that ELA-exposed lineages were more sensitive to pain than mouse lineages with normal rearing, and exposure to six percent CO2-enriched air caused ELA-exposed mice and their progeny to hyperventilate .

Upon looking closely at the mice's brains, researchers found that certain genes–ASIC1, ASIC2, and ASIC3 were more active in mice that experienced early life difficulties. These changes were especially noticeable in specific parts of the brain, including the medulla oblongata and periaqueductal gray matter responsible for sensory and pain processing. The statement noted: "A single dose of amiloride inhalant reversed these responses across the entire ELA-exposed lineage .

" The study was published earlier today (October 4, 2023) in the journal Science Advances.