A lot of research is done in the field of "ACEs Science", as described so well recently by Jane Stevens here, that never mentions the word "ACEs", yet is fully consistent with many of the views expressed on this website. One such recent study is that of Peña and colleagues (2017) online here, from the prestigious journal Science, and with senior author Eric Nestler of the Mount Sinai Medical School. Professor Nestler is the Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Friedman Brain Institute. He's one of those rare combinations of psychiatrist and specialists in other fields, in his case molecular biology. His laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of drug addiction and depression in animal models. He responded very quickly when I requested a copy of the article over the weekend eric.nestler@mssm.edu but of course you can also PM me if you'd like to read it, or if you have any questions.
The article abstract is attached, but is described in simpler language by Jeremy Dean on his excellent PsyBlog site here. But in simple language, while we now know much more about the consequences for mental and physical health resulting from ACEs, much still remains to be learnt about the neurobiological mechanisms by which these consequences come about. The Peña et al article contributes to this understanding.
The study looked at the functioning of the Ventral Tegmental Area of the brain, an important contributor to reward system functioning, and thus to depression, substance abuse and other mental difficulties. To be honest, I have to wonder if Dr Dean himself fully understood the paper, or if he simply failed to proofread his blog -- the study did NOT look at genetic differences between test animals (as suggested by his seventh sentence). I've reviewed the Culverhouse study previously, and again attach, and we know it is later-life stress itself that leads to later-life depression in those whose neurological functioning is negatively affected by early life stress. Significantly, at least in the animal subjects these abnormalities in neurological function in these brain regions can be at least temporarily reversed.
(stock photo from alamy)
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