Open AccessChildhood Maltreatment and Stress-Related Psychopathology: The Epigenetic Memory Hypothesis
Author(s) -
Pierre-Eric Lutz,
Dennys Ramon de Melo Fernandes Almeida,
Laura M. Fiori,
Gustavo Turecki
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
current pharmaceutical design
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1873-4286
pISSN - 1381-6128
DOI - 10.2174/1381612821666150105124928
Subject(s) - psychopathology , epigenetics , dna methylation , psychology , socioeconomic status , mechanism (biology) , affect (linguistics) , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , biology , genetics , population , gene , environmental health , communication , philosophy , gene expression , epistemology
Childhood maltreatment (CM) is all too frequent among western societies, with an estimated prevalence of 10 to 15%. CM associates with increased risk of several psychiatric disorders, and therefore represents a worrying public and socioeconomic burden. While associated clinical outcomes are well characterized, determining by which mechanisms early-life adverse experiences affect mental health over the lifespan is a major challenge. Epigenetic mechanisms, in particular DNA methylation, represent a form of molecular memory that may modify brain function over extended periods of time, as well as serve as a bio-marker of behavioral phenotypes associated with CM. Here, we review human studies suggesting that DNA methylation is a crucial substrate mediating neurobiological consequences of CM throughout life, thereby potentiating maladaptive behavioral patterns and psychopathological risk.