Early Life Stress: Consequences for the Development of the Brain

This literature review demonstrates the importance and consequences of early life stress for the development of the brain and its role in the formation of neurological and mental illnesses (particularly depression). The most dangerous is chronic early life stress during the neonatal period of development in the first days after birth, when the effects on the development of the brain, neuro-, synapto-, and glio-, and angiogenesis are the most stable. Among all the neuropsychological effects of early life stress, the most common are apparent as depressive disorders in humans and animals, and this constitutes a widely used model of experimental depression in rodents.