The Effects of Early Life Stress on Impulsivity

Overview

Journal Neurosci Biobehav Rev

Specialties Neurology
Psychology
Social Sciences

Date 2022 Mar 28

PMID 35341796

Authors

Evelyn Ordones Sanchez

Debra A Bangasser

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Elevated impulsivity is a symptom shared by various psychiatric disorders such as substance use disorder, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, impulsivity is not a unitary construct and impulsive behaviors fall into two subcategories: impulsive action and impulsive choice. Impulsive choice refers to the tendency to prefer immediate, small rewards over delayed, large rewards, whereas impulsive action involves difficulty inhibiting rash, premature, or mistimed behaviors. These behaviors are mediated by the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system, which consists of projections from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. Early life stress (ELS) alters both impulsive choice and impulsive action in rodents. ELS also changes DA receptor expression, transmission, and activity within the mesocorticolimbic system. This review integrates the dopamine, impulsivity, and ELS literature to provide evidence that ELS alters impulsivity via inducing changes in the mesocorticolimbic DA system. Understanding how ELS affects brain circuits associated with impulsivity can help advance treatments aimed towards reducing impulsivity symptoms in a variety of psychiatric disorders.

Citing Articles

Effects of chronic stress on cognitive function - From neurobiology to intervention.

Girotti M, Bulin S, Carreno F Neurobiol Stress. 2024; 33:100670.

PMID: 39295772 PMC: 11407068. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100670.

A mixed methods experience sampling study of a posttraumatic growth model for addiction recovery.

Runyan J, Vermilya S, St Pierre M, Brooks N, Fowler A, Brewer T Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):3511.

PMID: 38383566 PMC: 10881473. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53740-7.

Post-weaning social isolation in male mice leads to abnormal aggression and disrupted network organization in the prefrontal cortex: Contribution of parvalbumin interneurons with or without perineuronal nets.

Biro L, Miskolczi C, Szebik H, Bruzsik B, Varga Z, Szente L Neurobiol Stress. 2023; 25:100546.

PMID: 37323648 PMC: 10265620. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100546.

Early-life stress affects Mongolian gerbil interactions with conspecific vocalizations in a sex-specific manner.

Hardy K, Hart D, Rosen M Front Behav Neurosci. 2023; 17:1128586.

PMID: 37234406 PMC: 10206074. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1128586.

Sex differences in addiction-relevant behavioral outcomes in rodents following early life stress.

Rincon-Cortes M Addict Neurosci. 2023; 6.

PMID: 37101684 PMC: 10124992. DOI: 10.1016/j.addicn.2023.100067.

References

Swann A, Lijffijt M, Lane S, Cox B, Steinberg J, Moeller F . Norepinephrine and impulsivity: effects of acute yohimbine. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2013; 229(1):83-94. PMC: 3742556. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-3088-7. View

Floresco S, McLaughlin R, Haluk D . Opposing roles for the nucleus accumbens core and shell in cue-induced reinstatement of food-seeking behavior. Neuroscience. 2008; 154(3):877-84. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.04.004. View

Economidou D, Theobald D, Robbins T, Everitt B, Dalley J . Norepinephrine and dopamine modulate impulsivity on the five-choice serial reaction time task through opponent actions in the shell and core sub-regions of the nucleus accumbens. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012; 37(9):2057-66. PMC: 3398724. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2012.53. View

Evenden J, Ryan C . The pharmacology of impulsive behaviour in rats: the effects of drugs on response choice with varying delays of reinforcement. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1996; 128(2):161-70. DOI: 10.1007/s002130050121. View

Badgaiyan R, Sinha S, Sajjad M, Wack D . Attenuated Tonic and Enhanced Phasic Release of Dopamine in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. PLoS One. 2015; 10(9):e0137326. PMC: 4589406. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137326. View

Balasubramani P, Pesce M, Hayden B . Activity in orbitofrontal neuronal ensembles reflects inhibitory control. Eur J Neurosci. 2019; 51(10):2033-2051. PMC: 8214402. DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14638. View

Cardinal R, Robbins T, Everitt B . The effects of d-amphetamine, chlordiazepoxide, alpha-flupenthixol and behavioural manipulations on choice of signalled and unsignalled delayed reinforcement in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2001; 152(4):362-75. DOI: 10.1007/s002130000536. View

Calipari E, Juarez B, Morel C, Walker D, Cahill M, Ribeiro E . Dopaminergic dynamics underlying sex-specific cocaine reward. Nat Commun. 2017; 8:13877. PMC: 5234081. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13877. View

Pezze M, Dalley J, Robbins T . Remediation of attentional dysfunction in rats with lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex by intra-accumbens administration of the dopamine D(2/3) receptor antagonist sulpiride. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2008; 202(1-3):307-13. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-008-1384-4. View

10.

Wolraich M, Hagan Jr J, Allan C, Chan E, Davison D, Earls M . Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2019; 144(4). PMC: 7067282. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2019-2528. View

11.

Sanna A, Fattore L, Badas P, Corona G, Diana M . The hypodopaminergic state ten years after: transcranial magnetic stimulation as a tool to test the dopamine hypothesis of drug addiction. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2020; 56:61-67. DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2020.11.001. View

12.

Messina B, Silvestri M, Diulio A, Murphy J, Garza K, Correia C . Alcohol use, impulsivity, and the non-medical use of prescription stimulants among college students. Addict Behav. 2014; 39(12):1798-803. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.07.012. View

13.

Dawe S, Loxton N . The role of impulsivity in the development of substance use and eating disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2004; 28(3):343-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2004.03.007. View

14.

Biederman J, Milberger S, Faraone S, Kiely K, Guite J, Mick E . Impact of adversity on functioning and comorbidity in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1995; 34(11):1495-503. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-199511000-00017. View

15.

Bauer J, Werner A, Kohl W, Kugel H, Shushakova A, Pedersen A . Hyperactivity and impulsivity in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is related to glutamatergic dysfunction in the anterior cingulate cortex. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2016; 19(7):538-546. DOI: 10.1080/15622975.2016.1262060. View

16.

Everitt B, Belin D, Economidou D, Pelloux Y, Dalley J, Robbins T . Review. Neural mechanisms underlying the vulnerability to develop compulsive drug-seeking habits and addiction. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2008; 363(1507):3125-35. PMC: 2607322. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0089. View

17.

Weston H, Weston D, Allen J, Cory-Slechta D . Sex-dependent impacts of low-level lead exposure and prenatal stress on impulsive choice behavior and associated biochemical and neurochemical manifestations. Neurotoxicology. 2014; 44:169-83. PMC: 4175053. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2014.06.013. View

18.

Yates J, Darna M, Beckmann J, Dwoskin L, Bardo M . Individual differences in impulsive action and dopamine transporter function in rat orbitofrontal cortex. Neuroscience. 2015; 313:122-9. PMC: 4695254. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.11.033. View

19.

Chocyk A, Przyborowska A, Dudys D, Majcher I, Mackowiak M, Wedzony K . The impact of maternal separation on the number of tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing midbrain neurons during different stages of ontogenesis. Neuroscience. 2011; 182:43-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.03.008. View

20.

Hamidovic A, Dlugos A, Skol A, Palmer A, de Wit H . Evaluation of genetic variability in the dopamine receptor D2 in relation to behavioral inhibition and impulsivity/sensation seeking: an exploratory study with d-amphetamine in healthy participants. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2009; 17(6):374-83. PMC: 2879583. DOI: 10.1037/a0017840. View