Hypersensitivity to Pain Produced by Early Life Stress is Worsened by Later Stress Exposure

Hypersensitivity to Pain Produced byHypersensitivity to Pain Produced by Early Life Stress is Worsened by Later Stress Exposure PR Newswire PHILADELPHIA, November 5, 2013 Reports new study in Biological Psychiatry Childhood neglect and abuse, whether physical or psychological, confers a lifetime vulnerability to stress, anxiety, and mood problems. Such early-life stress is also suspected to contribute to the development of chronic pain in adulthood. In fact, there is growing concern that chronic pain syndromes may be a complication of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, this link is particularly challenging to study because many stressful events that produce PTSD also produce physical trauma. In addition, much of the research conducted in animals has not accurately reflected the early-life stress experienced by humans. Inspired by a conversation with the violinist Itzhak Perlman, about students whose performance plateaued for unclear reasons, researchers led by Dr. Jon Levine at the University of California San Francisco, set out to rectify these gaps in understanding. To do so, they used an animal model of maternal neglect that stresses rat mothers by restricting nesting/bedding material. These stressed rat mothers do not provide consistent levels of nurturing to their pups, i.e., the mothers are present but their care is unpredictable, resulting in increased levels of stress in the pups. The pups were otherwise not harmed or stressed.