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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Can adverse neonatal experiences alter brain development and subsequent behavior?
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and Pain Neurobiology Laboratory, Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR 72202-3591, USA.
Insights
Early life adversity, like maternal separation or pain, can alter brain development. This research explores how these experiences impact neurodevelopment, potentially leading to self-destructive behaviors in adulthood.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Behavioral Biology
Background:
- Self-destructive behaviors are a growing concern, prompting research into their psychobiological underpinnings.
- Perinatal brain plasticity heightens vulnerability to early adverse experiences, impacting neurodevelopment and behavior.
- Existing research links perinatal complications to adult behavioral abnormalities, but underlying mechanisms are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neurobiological mechanisms through which early adverse experiences influence brain development and behavior.
- To explore the roles of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activity and excitotoxicity/apoptosis in mediating these effects.
- To identify potential targets for preventing and treating neurodevelopmental disorders linked to early life stress.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing rodent models to simulate early life adverse experiences (e.g., maternal separation, repetitive pain).
- Examining alterations in brain development, neuronal apoptosis, and NMDA receptor activity.
- Correlating neurobiological changes with specific behavioral phenotypes in adult animals.
Main Results:
- Maternal separation and sensory isolation may lead to reduced NMDA receptor activity and increased apoptosis in the immature brain.
- Repetitive pain exposure can result in excessive NMDA receptor activation and excitotoxic damage to developing neurons.
- Both pathways are associated with distinct behavioral outcomes, including anxiety, altered pain sensitivity, stress disorders, and attention deficits.
Conclusions:
- Early life insults can induce distinct neurobiological changes, impacting neuronal survival and function.
- These changes contribute to a spectrum of behavioral problems, including impaired social skills and self-destructive behaviors.
- Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for developing preventative strategies and novel therapeutic interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Abstract:
Self-destructive behavior in current society promotes a search for psychobiological factors underlying this epidemic. Perinatal brain plasticity increases the vulnerability to early adverse experiences, thus leading to abnormal development and behavior. Although several epidemiological investigations have correlated perinatal and neonatal complications with abnormal adult behavior, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains rudimentary. Models of early experience, such as repetitive pain, sepsis, or maternal separation in rodents and other species have noted multiple alterations in the adult brain, correlated with specific behavioral phenotypes depending on the timing and nature of the insult. The mechanisms mediating such changes in the neonatal brain have remained largely unexplored. We propose that lack of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activity from maternal separation and sensory isolation leads to increased apoptosis in multiple areas of the immature brain. On the other hand, exposure to repetitive pain may cause excessive NMDA/excitatory amino acid activation resulting in excitotoxic damage to developing neurons. These changes promote two distinct behavioral phenotypes characterized by increased anxiety, altered pain sensitivity, stress disorders, hyperactivity/attention deficit disorder, leading to impaired social skills and patterns of self-destructive behavior. The clinical important of these mechanisms lies in the prevention of early insults, effective treatment of neonatal pain and stress, and perhaps the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches that limit neuronal excitotoxicity or apoptosis.
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