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<\/a><\/p>\nIn a study published earlier this year in The Journal of Neuroscience, Baram and colleagues identified how sensory stimuli from maternal care can modify genes that control a key messenger of stress called corticotropin-releasing hormone.<\/p>\n
Dr. Baram\u2019s earlier work has shown that excessive amounts of CRH in the brain\u2019s primary learning and memory center led to the disintegration of dendritic spines, branchlike structures on neurons. Dendritic spines facilitate the sending and receiving of messages among brain cells and the collection and storage of memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunication among brain cells is the foundation of cognitive processes such as learning and memory,\u201d says Baram, the Danette Shepard Chair in Neurological Sciences. \u201cIn several brain disorders where learning and similar thought processes are abnormal, dendritic spines have been found to be reduced in density or poorly developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause an infant\u2019s brain is still building connections in these communication zones, large blasts or long-term amounts of stress can permanently limit full development, increasing the risk of anxiety, depression and dementia later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essentially, Dr. Baram and her colleagues\u2019 work stands for the proposition that a human brain is fundamentally influenced by the environment early in life, especially by maternal care.<\/p>\n