TY - JOUR
T1 - Premature Birth and Developmental Programming
T2 - Mechanisms of Resilience and Vulnerability
AU - Lammertink, Femke
AU - Vinkers, Christiaan H.
AU - Tataranno, Maria L.
AU - Benders, Manon J.N.L.
N1 - Funding Information: FL was supported by a grant from the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital (D-17-010007). The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2021 Lammertink, Vinkers, Tataranno and Benders. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/1/8
Y1 - 2021/1/8
N2 - The third trimester of pregnancy represents a sensitive phase for infant brain plasticity when a series of fast-developing cellular events (synaptogenesis, neuronal migration, and myelination) regulates the development of neural circuits. Throughout this dynamic period of growth and development, the human brain is susceptible to stress. Preterm infants are born with an immature brain and are, while admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, precociously exposed to stressful procedures. Postnatal stress may contribute to altered programming of the brain, including key systems such as the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system. These neurobiological systems are promising markers for the etiology of several affective and social psychopathologies. As preterm birth interferes with early development of stress-regulatory systems, early interventions might strengthen resilience factors and might help reduce the detrimental effects of chronic stress exposure. Here we will review the impact of stress following premature birth on the programming of neurobiological systems and discuss possible stress-related neural circuits and pathways involved in resilience and vulnerability. Finally, we discuss opportunities for early intervention and future studies.
AB - The third trimester of pregnancy represents a sensitive phase for infant brain plasticity when a series of fast-developing cellular events (synaptogenesis, neuronal migration, and myelination) regulates the development of neural circuits. Throughout this dynamic period of growth and development, the human brain is susceptible to stress. Preterm infants are born with an immature brain and are, while admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, precociously exposed to stressful procedures. Postnatal stress may contribute to altered programming of the brain, including key systems such as the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous system. These neurobiological systems are promising markers for the etiology of several affective and social psychopathologies. As preterm birth interferes with early development of stress-regulatory systems, early interventions might strengthen resilience factors and might help reduce the detrimental effects of chronic stress exposure. Here we will review the impact of stress following premature birth on the programming of neurobiological systems and discuss possible stress-related neural circuits and pathways involved in resilience and vulnerability. Finally, we discuss opportunities for early intervention and future studies.
KW - autonomic nervous system
KW - epigenetics
KW - hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis
KW - large-scale brain networks
KW - prematurity
KW - resilience
KW - stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099732356&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.531571
DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.531571
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33488409
SN - 1664-0640
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in psychiatry
M1 - 531571
ER -