scholarly journals Influences of Caregiving on Development: A Sensitive Period for Biological Embedding of Predictability and Safety Cues

2021 ◽  
pp. 096372142110156
Author(s):  
Dylan G. Gee ◽  
Emily M. Cohodes
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Behavioral Development ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Affective Behavior ◽  
Human Research ◽  
Prevention And Intervention ◽  
External Regulation

Across species, caregivers exert a powerful influence on the neural and behavioral development of offspring. Increasingly, both animal and human research has highlighted specific patterns in caregivers’ behavior that may be especially important early in life, as well as neurobiological mechanisms linking early caregiving experiences with long-term affective behavior. Here we delineate evidence for an early sensitive period during infancy and toddlerhood when caregiver inputs that are predictable and associated with safety may become biologically embedded via influences on corticolimbic circuitry involved in emotion regulation. We propose that these caregiver signals prime corticolimbic circuitry to be receptive to later stage-specific caregiver influences, such as caregivers’ external regulation of children’s emotional reactivity. Following adversity that disrupts the predictability and safety associated with caregivers during this sensitive period, accelerated maturation of children’s corticolimbic circuitry may foreshorten the protracted period of plasticity and caregiver influence that is characteristic of humans. This work has implications for both prevention and intervention efforts targeting children exposed to adversity early in life.

The role of early experience in shaping behavioral and brain development and its implications for social policy

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERALDINE DAWSON ◽  
SHARON B. ASHMAN ◽  
LESLIE J. CARVER
Keyword(s):  
Child Psychopathology ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Early Experience ◽  
Behavioral Development ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Behavioral Outcome ◽  
Ample Evidence

This article provides a targeted review of the scientific literature on the effects of experience on early brain and behavioral development and later outcome as it pertains to risk for some forms of child psychopathology. It is argued that ample evidence exists indicating that the prenatal and early postnatal years likely represent a sensitive period with respect to the effects of stress on the developing nervous system and behavioral outcome, and with respect to the long-term beneficial effects of early interventions on brain and behavioral development for some genetically based disorders, such as phenylketonuria and autism. Moreover, evidence suggests that parental mental health during the first years of life has a significant influence on early brain activity and behavior, and long-term behavioral outcome. It is concluded that, although prevention and early intervention efforts should not exclusively focus on the earliest years of development, such efforts should begin during this period. By directing such efforts toward promoting optimal prenatal and infant–toddler development, the long-term negative consequences of factors that have their greatest influences during early development and which set the stage for future development can be minimized or avoided entirely. Several recommendations for public policy and future research pertaining to the effects of early experience on child outcome are offered.

Individual Differences in the Vitamin Model of Well-being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Warr
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Environmental Features ◽  
Individual Variations ◽  
Nonlinear Associations

Prominent among frameworks of well-being is the Vitamin Model, which emphasizes nonlinear associations with environmental features. The Vitamin Model has previously been described through average patterns for people in general, but we need also to explore inter-individual variations. For presentation, those differences can either be viewed generically, based on divergence in age, personality and so on, or through short-term episodes of emotion regulation, such as through situation-specific attentional focus and reappraisal. Both long-term and short-term variations are considered here.

Stress and the healthy adolescent brain: Evidence for the neural embedding of life events

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (4pt1) ◽  
pp. 879-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Ganzel ◽  
Pilyoung Kim ◽  
Heather Gilmore ◽  
Nim Tottenham ◽  
Elise Temple
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Adverse Life Events ◽  
Healthy Adolescent ◽  
Fearful Faces ◽  
Morphometric Analyses ◽  
Multiple Regions

AbstractLittle is known about the long-term neural consequences of adverse life events for healthy adolescents, and this is particularly the case for events that occur after a putative stress-sensitive period in early childhood. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study of healthy adolescents, we found that prior exposure to severe adverse life events was associated with current anxiety and with increased amygdala reactivity to standardized emotional stimuli (viewing of fearful faces relative to calm ones). Conjunction analyses identified multiple regions, including the amygdala, insula, and prefrontal cortex, in which reactivity to emotional faces covaried with life events as well as with current anxiety. Our morphometric analyses suggest systemic alterations in structural brain development with an association between anxiety symptoms and global gray matter volume. No life events were reported for the period before 4 years of age, suggesting that these results were not driven by exposure to stress during an early sensitive period in development. Overall, these data suggest systemic effects of traumatic events on the dynamically developing brain that are present even in a nonclinical sample of adolescents.

Temperament and Coping Activity Under Stress of Changing Intensity Over Time

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 326-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Heszen
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Sensory Sensitivity ◽  
And Coping ◽  
First Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Over Time

Temperament is probably an important factor that influences coping activity. The framework of the study was the Regulative Theory of Temperament by Strelau, where six temperamental traits are distinguished: emotional reactivity, perseveration, activity, briskness, sensory sensitivity, and endurance. These traits were hypothesized to be connected to coping activity in accordance with their psychological characteristics. It was also expected that the associations between temperament and coping activity should depend on stress intensity. Participants were 278 diabetics and 232 patients after first myocardial infarction (MI). The study was longitudinal and two diseases had been purposely selected so as to represent stress intensity either increasing (in diabetes) or decreasing (after MI) over time. Temperamental traits as well as coping activity components: cognitive appraisal, affect, and coping strategies were measured using self-report questionnaires. As hypothesized, temperamental traits were connected to coping activity. Phase-related changes in coping activity confirmed an increase in stress levels in diabetics, while cardiac patients tended to experience the situation as more challenging. While the expectation referring to the differential role of temperament under different levels of stress intensity was not confirmed, the connections of temperament with coping activity were found to decrease under long-term stress.

scholarly journals Reelin deficiency contributes to long-term behavioral abnormalities induced by chronic adolescent exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in mice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attilio Iemolo ◽  
Aisha Nur ◽  
Patricia Montilla-Perez ◽  
Victoria B Risbrough ◽  
Francesca Telese
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Lateral Septum ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Novelty Seeking ◽  
Behavioral Abnormalities ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Adolescent Exposure

AbstractHeavy and frequent use of cannabis during adolescence increases the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this vulnerability remain largely unknown. Here, we explore whether adolescent vulnerability to long-term behavioral effects of cannabis is modulated by Reelin, a gene implicated in the development of the brain and of psychiatric disorders. To this aim, heterozygous Reeler (HR) mice, that express reduced level of Reelin, were chronically exposed during adolescence to high doses (10mg/kg) of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a major psychoactive component of cannabis. Mice were tested in early adulthood with multiple behavioral assays, including working memory, social interaction, locomotor activity, anxiety-like responses, stress reactivity, and pre-pulse inhibition. Compared to wild-type (WT), HR mice treated with THC showed impaired social behaviors, elevated disinhibitory phenotypes and increased responsiveness to aversive situations, in a sex-specific manner. Independent of THC exposure, HR mice also spent more time exploring unfamiliar objects, indicating that Reelin modulates novelty seeking behavior. To identify the neuronal ensemble underlying this elevated novelty seeking in HR mice, we mapped the regional brain expression of the immediate early gene, Fos, in mice exposed to novel objects. HR mice exhibited reduced neuronal activation in the lateral septum, a subcortical brain structure implicated in emotions, cognition and reward processes. Overall, these findings show that (1) Reelin deficiency influences behavioral abnormalities caused by heavy consumption of THC during adolescence, and (2) that Reelin plays a role in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying disinhibitory behaviors, such as novelty seeking.Significant StatementThe link between cannabis abuse and the development psychiatric disorders, especially in adolescents, makes understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cannabis effects on the brain a significant biomedical problem. Reelin is a key signaling molecule in the development of the adolescent brain and of psychiatric disorders, but its role in modulating the behavioral changes induced by cannabis remain unknown. Here, we report an interaction between Reelin deficiency and chronic adolescent exposure to THC, a major psychoactive component of cannabis. This interaction led to cognitive deficits, disinhibitory behaviors and altered emotional reactivity in mice, in a sex-specific manner. These experiments are the first to establish a link between Reelin signaling and the endocannabinoid system targeted by THC.

scholarly journals The Potential Interaction Between Time Perception and Gaming: A Narrative Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1226-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip M. Nuyens ◽  
Daria J. Kuss ◽  
Olatz Lopez-Fernandez ◽  
Mark D. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Time Perception ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Potential Interaction ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Flow State ◽  
Attentional Resources ◽  
Time Control ◽  
Flow States

Abstract Compromised time control is a variable of interest among disordered gamers because time spent on videogames can directly affect individuals’ lives. Although time perception appears to be closely associated with this phenomenon, previous studies have not systematically found a relationship between time perception and gaming. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative review is to explore how gaming disorder may be associated with time perception. It has been found that gamers exhibit a stronger attentional focus as well as an improved working memory compared with non-gamers. However, gamers (and especially disordered gamers) exhibit a stronger reaction to gaming cues which—coupled with an altered emotion regulation observed among disordered gamers—could directly affect their time perception. Finally, “'flow states”' direct most of the attentional resources to the ongoing activity, leading to a lack of resources allocated to the time perception. Therefore, entering a flow state will result in an altered time perception, most likely an underestimation of duration. The paper concludes that the time loss effect observed among disordered gamers can be explained via enhanced emotional reactivity (facilitated by impaired emotion regulation).

On the Outside Looking In: Distress and Sympathy for Ethnic Victims of Violence by Out-Group Members

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 199-217
Author(s):  
Nakia S. Gordon ◽  
Samantha A. Chesney
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Emotional Suppression ◽  
Group Evaluation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Victims Of Violence ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Abu Ghraib Prison

Abstract It is well documented that individuals respond with negative emotions to racial and ethnic out-groups. Yet, it is unknown whether the responses are a measure of simple emotional reactivity or if they are also influenced by emotion regulation. Given the importance of emotions in out-group evaluation (see Intergroup Emotion Theory; Smith and Mackie, 2008), we investigated emotional reactivity and regulation in response to out-group victimization. Forty-one undergraduates completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and viewed three sets of images: lynching of African-Americans, torture of Abu Ghraib prison detainees, and iaps images depicting graphic violence. Participants rated 13 emotions before and after viewing the images. A factor analysis identified four emotional response categories: Distress, Sympathy, Arousal and Avoidance. Analyses at both the individual emotion level and factor level indicated that negative emotions (e.g., anger, disgust, and guilt) were greater in response to violence against ethnic groups relative to violence depicted in the iaps images. Emotional suppression predicted blunted distress and arousal to ethnic victimization. These findings highlight that emotional responses to out-group victimization are complex and tempered by emotional suppression. Individuals’ emotion regulation may provide further insight into responses to ethnic and racial out-groups.

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