Obviously, positive or negative experiences in school, at work, or in romantic and family interpersonal relationships can bias an individual towards either a positive or negative

response in a new situation. For example, someone who has been treated badly in a job by a domineering and abusive supervisor and/or has been fired will approach a new job situation quite differently than someone who has had positive experiences in employment. Early life experiences perhaps carry an even greater weight in terms of how an individual Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical reacts to new situations. Early life physical and sexual abuse imposes a life- long burden of behavioral and pathophysiological problems.41,42 Cold and uncaring families produce long-lasting emotional problems in children.43 Some of these effects are seen on brain structure and function, and in the risk for later depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).44-46 Animal models have been useful in providing insights into behavioral and physiological Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical mechanisms. Early life Selleckchem BI 6727 maternal care in rodents is a powerful determinant of life-long emotional reactivity and stress hormone reactivity, and increases in both are associated with earlier cognitive decline and a shorter lifespan.47,48 Effects of early maternal care are transmitted

across generations by the subsequent behavior of the female offspring as they become mothers, and methylation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical on key genes appears to play a role in this epigenetic transmission.49 Furthermore,

in rodents, abuse of the young is associated with an attachment, rather than an avoidance, of the abusive mother, an effect that increases the chances that the infant can continue Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to obtain food and other support until weaning.50 Moreover, other conditions that affect the rearing process can also affect emotionality in offspring. For example, uncertainty in the food supply for rhesus monkey mothers leads to increased emotionality in offspring and possibly an earlier onset of obesity and diabetes. 51 So far, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical we have emphasized the important role of the environment and experiences of individuals in the health outcomes, but clearly genetic differences also play an Phosphoprotein phosphatase important role. Different alleles of commonly occurring genes determine how individuals will respond to experiences. For example, the short form of the serotonin transporter is associated with a number of conditions such as alcoholism, and individuals who have this allele are more vulnerable to respond to stressful experiences by developing depressive illness.52 In childhood, individuals with an allele of the monoamine oxidase A gene are more vulnerable to abuse in childhood and more likely to them- selves become abusers and to show antisocial behaviors compared with individuals with another commonly occurring allele.53 Yet another example is the consequence of having the Val66Met allele of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene on hippocampal volume, memory, and mood disorders.