Integrating early life stress in neurological disease: advancing preventive neurology

In 2021, an estimated 43% of the world's population had been diagnosed with a neurological disorder. Early life stress (ELS) is now a well-established risk factor for later-life neurological disorders. However, translation to clinical practice is hindered by oversimplification, lack of standardisation and limited knowledge of the patterns and mechanisms of disease pathogenesis.

The current paper reviews existing literature relating to ELS and neurological disorders and provides an overview and clinical perspective of the gaps in knowledge and future directions required to improve clinical care for patients.

To develop effective preventive or restorative therapies, there will be an increasing need to understand and further define the role of ELS in the subsequent emergence of neurological disorders and to investigate the interaction of ELS with other more widely recognised genetic and environmental factors.

We propose that additional interdisciplinary studies are needed to develop standardised scales to assess ELS and a new taxonomy and survey of ELS for future interdisciplinary studies. In addition, we suggest that further studies involving clinical cohorts have the potential to contribute to important findings that could help enhance the care of patients.