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Early adversity, neural development, and inflammation
Author(s) -
Chiang Jessica J.,
Taylor Shelley E.,
Bower Julienne E.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21329
Subject(s) - inflammation , amygdala , psychology , neuroscience , psychopathology , hippocampus , prefrontal cortex , central nervous system , neural development , medicine , psychiatry , biology , cognition , biochemistry , gene
Early adversity is a risk factor for poor mental and physical health. Although altered neural development is believed to be one pathway linking early adversity to psychopathology, it has rarely been considered a pathway linking early adversity to poor physical health. However, this is a viable pathway because the central nervous system is known to interact with the immune system via the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system (ANS). In support of this pathway, early adversity has been linked to changes in neural development (particularly of the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex), HPA axis and ANS dysregulation, and higher levels of inflammation. Inflammation, in turn, can be detrimental to physical health when prolonged. In this review, we present these studies and consider how altered neural development may be a pathway by which early adversity increases inflammation and thus risk for adverse physical health outcomes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc . Dev Psychobiol 57: 887–907, 2015.