Sexually Dimorphic Responses to Early Adversity: Implications for Affective Problems and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Publication Date

6-26-2014

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Anxiety, Autism, Depression, Early adversity, Epigenetic, Fetal programming, Placenta, Prenatal, Sex differences, Stress

Abstract

During gestation, development proceeds at a pace that is unmatched by any other stage of the life cycle. For these reasons the human fetus is particularly susceptible not only to organizing influences, but also to pathogenic disorganizing influences. Growing evidence suggests that exposure to prenatal adversity leads to neurological changes that underlie lifetime risks for mental illness. Beginning early in gestation, males and females show differential developmental trajectories and responses to stress. It is likely that sex-dependent organization of neural circuits during the fetal period influences differential vulnerability to mental health problems. We consider in this review evidence that sexually dimorphic responses to early life stress are linked to two developmental disorders: affective problems (greater female prevalence) and autism spectrum disorder (greater male prevalence). Recent prospective studies illustrating the neurodevelopmental consequences of fetal exposure to stress and stress hormones for males and females are considered here. Plausible biological mechanisms including the role of the sexually differentiated placenta are discussed.

Copyright Date

6-26-2014

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Rights Holder

Elsevier

Provenance

Received from author

Language

English (eng)

Extent

15 pgs

Publication Statement

Copyright held by Elsevier. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Publication Title

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Volume

49

First Page

11

Last Page

25

ISSN

1873-3360

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