Stress, Early Brain Development, and Behavior (original) (raw)

Subject Research has begun to identify the neural circuits, brain structures, and endocrine systems affected by ELS and their role in emergent psychopathology and medical problems. Multidisciplinary research in the areas of risk and resilience, developmental psychopathology, psychoneuroendocrinology, neuroscience, and molecular and behavioural genetics has elucidated factors that increase vulnerability to stressors and those which protect children from their deleterious effects. Understanding the mechanisms through which ELS "gets under the skin" should help us to identify intervention and prevention targets, thus having broad implications for policy and practice. Problems The stress response system involves the sympathetic nervous system, the various neurotransmitter systems, the immune system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis.