Early life adversity leaves a lifelong imprint on brain function.

What is it about?

Our study investigates how early life adversity shapes the brain’s activity across a lifespan. Using whole-brain MRI in mice and advanced computational analyses, we tracked how early adversity reorganized normal brain responses to a life-threatening experience in adulthood. We scanned 24 mice with and without early life adversity across 5 timepoints, normalized and aligned all images, and performed statistical analyses comparing neural activity dynamics across 102 brain regions longitudinally. We found that early adversity does not just affect one or two brain regions – it disrupts the balance of activity across many interconnected regions. These alterations are also dynamic. Brain activity shifts dramatically in response to threat and fails to recover afterward, suggesting a persistent reconfiguration of how the brain processes and adapts to stress.

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Photo by Adam Rutkowski on Unsplash

Photo by Adam Rutkowski on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Adverse childhood experiences are a major public health challenge, especially in New Mexico, where they are unusually common. Such experiences increase the risk for depression, anxiety, substance use, and even heart disease and dementia later in life. By identifying how early adversity reconfigures brain-wide activity longitudinally — uniquely possible in animal models — our research reveals key biological pathways linking childhood experiences to adult health. These insights inform strategies to foster resilience, reduce vulnerability to later stress, and guide targeted treatments for those already affected.

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