Childhood Attachment and Loss Experiences Affect Adult Cardiovascular and Cortisol Function

Luecken, Linda J.

doi:10.1097/00006842-199811000-00021

Cited by 164 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Abused women with depression also exhibited increased cortisol responses to stress compared with all other groups. Similarly, an increase of cortisol during a speech in front of a video camera was noted in adults with parental loss experience, whereas cortisol levels decreased in control subjects (Luecken 1998). These findings are remarkably consistent with findings from animal studies suggesting sensitization of the neuroendocrine stress responses after early life stress in humans, which may in turn be related to an increased risk for psychopathology.…”

Section: Studies In Adultssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…In addition, increased heart rate or blood pressure responses have been observed during stress induction in adults with early parental loss and abused women with depression (Heim et al 2000;Luecken 1998) as well during mental imagery of abuse experiences in abused women with PTSD (Orr et al 1998), suggesting increased autonomic reactivity. With respect to serotonergic function, a history of severe childhood abuse was found to be highly correlated with blunted prolactin responses to m-CPP in adult women who suffered from borderline personality disorder (Rinne et al 2000).…”

Section: Studies In Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of childhood trauma in the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders: preclinical and clinical studies

Heim

Nemeroff

2001

Biological Psychiatry

2,421

1,506

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Section: Studies In Adultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Studies In Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of childhood trauma in the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders: preclinical and clinical studies

Heim

Nemeroff

2001

Biological Psychiatry

2,421

1,506

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Accordingly, we observed an inverse relationship between CSF CRF concentrations and ACTH responses to CRF in these women (Newport et al, 2003). Similar sensitization to stress has been reported for adults with early parental loss experience (Luecken, 1998). Two recent studies provide evidence that the experience of ELS is associated with increased cortisol escape in the combined dexamethasone-CRF test in adults, suggesting altered feedback properties of the HPA axis (L Carpenter, personal communication; Rinne et al, 2002).…”

Section: Neurobiology Of Elssupporting

confidence: 52%

Importance of Studying the Contributions of Early Adverse Experience to Neurobiological Findings in Depression

Heim

Plotsky

Nemeroff

2004

Neuropsychopharmacol

474

339

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Almost four decades of intensive research have sought to elucidate the neurobiological bases of depression. Epidemiological studies have revealed that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk for depression. Adverse early-life experiences influence neurobiological systems within genetic limits, leading to the neurobiological and behavioral manifestations of depression. We summarize the burgeoning evidence concerning a pre-eminent role of early adverse experience in the pathogenesis of depression. The available data suggest that (1) early adverse experience contributes to the pathophysiology of depression, (2) there are neurobiologically different subtypes of depression depending on the presence or absence of early adverse experience, likely having confounded previous research on the neurobiology of depression, and (3) early adverse experience likely influences treatment response in depression. Classification of depression based on developmental and neurobiological features will likely considerably improve future research in the field of depression, and might lead to optimized treatment strategies that directly target different neurobiological pathways to depression.

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“…In human research, adults who report parental loss or poor quality of maternal care during early childhood show higher basal levels of glucocorticoids (14,15), increased glucocorticoid reactivity to a laboratory stressor (16), and reduced hippocampal volume [although only observed in women and in interaction with prenatal adversity (17)]. Exposure to childhood abuse and maltreatment is associated with reduced hippocampal volume in adults (8,(18)(19)(20)(21), although it is not in children (22)(23)(24).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Larger amygdala but no change in hippocampal volume in 10-year-old children exposed to maternal depressive symptomatology since birth

Lupien

Parent

Evans

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

343

223

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Maternal separation and poor maternal care in animals have been shown to have important effects on the developing hippocampus and amygdala. In humans, children exposed to abuse/maltreatment or orphanage rearing do not present changes in hippocampal volumes. However, children reared in orphanages present enlarged amygdala volumes, suggesting that the amygdala may be particularly sensitive to severely disturbed (i.e., discontinous, neglectful) care in infancy. Maternal depressive symptomatology has been associated with reductions in overall sensitivity to the infant, and with an increased rate of withdrawn, disengaged behaviors. To determine if poor maternal care associated with maternal depressive symptomatology has a similar pattern of association to the volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala in children, as is the case for severely disturbed infant care (orphanage rearing), we measured hippocampal and amygdala volumes as well as stress hormone (glucocorticoid) levels in children exposed (n = 17) or not (n = 21) to maternal depressive symptomatology since birth. Results revealed no group difference in hippocampal volumes, but larger left and right amygdala volumes and increased levels of glucocorticoids in the children of mothers presenting depressive symptomatology since birth. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was observed between mothers' mean depressive scores and amygdala volumes in their children. The results of this study suggest that amygdala volume in human children may represent an early marker of biological sensitivity to quality of maternal care.I n all mammalian species, infants are highly dependent on their mothers not only for nutrition, but also for physical and affective interactions (1). In rodents, one of the most potent stressors for pups is separation from the dam for long periods of time. Maternal separation activates the pups' hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, evidenced by increased circulating levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and glucocorticoids (2). When they reach adulthood, rat pups subjected to maternal separation exhibit increased anxiety-like behavior, impaired cognitive capabilities, and dysregulation of the HPA axis (3). Similar outcomes have been reported in the offspring of mother rats that naturally display low levels of maternal care (4).Maternal separation and poor maternal care in the animal neonatal period are associated with structural changes in brain regions linked to cognition and mood regulation, including the hippocampus and the amygdala. Poor or absent maternal care in rodents is associated with decreased hippocampal volume and function in adolescence (5) and adulthood (6, 7), and these delayed effects have been shown to be related to an attenuation of the rate of synaptic development in the hippocampus (8). In contrast to the hippocampus, which shows protracted effects, the amygdala shows rapid changes in response to maternal separation or poor maternal care. For example, poor caregiving in rodents results in acceleration of amygdala develop...

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Childhood Attachment and Loss Experiences Affect Adult Cardiovascular and Cortisol Function

Abstract: These findings indicate that both childhood loss of a parent and poor quality of caretaking are associated with long-term increases in BP and altered neurohormonal responses to stress.

Cited by 164 publications

References 43 publications

The role of childhood trauma in the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders: preclinical and clinical studies

The role of childhood trauma in the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders: preclinical and clinical studies

Importance of Studying the Contributions of Early Adverse Experience to Neurobiological Findings in Depression

Larger amygdala but no change in hippocampal volume in 10-year-old children exposed to maternal depressive symptomatology since birth

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