We have probably all heard the rock and a hard place dilemma, where you have to choose between two negative options or outcomes. Most of the time, there are other options besides the two offered in the hypothetical situation. In a recent study, researchers created such a situation for lab rats to compare the effects of adverse early life experiences to traumatic brain events. To make it even worse for one group of rats, those rats got the fun experience of a concussion and deprivation during their rat toddlerhood. The study’s findings that the early life adverse experiences had a greater negative effect on future brain development deserves our attention for a moment.
Lots of other research has been looking at the effects of childhood head injuries on future health outcomes of humans. This research has included the effects of accidental head trauma, abusive trauma, and sports injuries. The research mostly agrees that significant repeated physical trauma leaves its mark on children’s brains in their adult years.
Other research has been examining the effects of childhood trauma, labeled adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on how kid’s brains function later in life as well as how it impacts on other health markers. We know from that research that deprivation, parental divorce, abuse, and other adverse experiences do impact on a wide variety of future health outcomes.
In this study, the researchers wanted to answer whether the impact of adverse events was greater or lesser than that of head trauma. They also wanted to know if the combination of the two would be additive or synergistic in any way. By creating three groups of experimental rats and comparing them to rats who did not have to endure either challenge, they determined what genetic changes had occurred in the rats during their early rat adult years. One group only had to endure being separated from their mother for 2 weeks during early life. One group only had to endure a head concussion. The final group got the worst of both by having both maternal deprivation and a head injury.
While changes were identified genetically in the rat’s brains in all three groups who had some trauma, the 2 groups with deprivation demonstrated greater changes than for the head trauma alone. Many changes were linked to increasing neuroplasticity or the ability to adapt to changes. Behaviorally only those who had such deprivation tended to take more risky behaviors like remaining in open spaces longer. Normally rats would not remain out in the open for long times where they might get attacked by a predator. For rats who were maternally deprived, they took more risk by remaining in the open longer.
This behavior in rats reflects similar increased risks seen in human studies. For children who experienced early life adverse events, we see an increase in the rates of ADHD and substance use disorders. These conditions included an element of increased risk-taking behavior.
With the seemingly increasing amount of societal stress today, we should pause and consider what we are doing to the future of society with the stressors placed on children today. The obvious effects of parental divorce and child abuse are known to worsen children’s health for years. We now add to that the trauma that our public school system inflicts upon the vulnerable youth, and things grow even darker for the future. Between bullying, the insanity of COVID lockdowns and masks, and the drive for exposing children to social justice indoctrination we are creating a looming disaster. We know that such adverse stressors have decades of negative outcomes on our children. Why do we not change something to aim at healthier, more abundant futures?
Original Article:
“Early-Life Stress Changes More Genes in Brain than a Head Injury.” Early-Life Stress Changes More Genes in Brain than a Head Injury, news.osu.edu/early-life-stress-changes-more-genes-in-brain-than-a-head-injury/.
Thanks to Science Daily:
Ohio State University. “Early-life stress changes more genes in brain than a head injury.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 November 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231113111823.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
