Traumatic Stressors May Trigger Neurological Disorders in Unborn Children

Pregnant mothers may want to be more careful when it comes to what they're exposed to. Scientists have found that when mothers are exposed to trauma, illness, alcohol or drugs, these stressor may activate a single molecular trigger in the brain cells and activate conditions such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and some forms of autism in their developing children.

In order to find out how much stressors can impact a developing brain, the researchers examined mouse embryos. They found that embryos exposed to alcohol, methyl-mercury, or maternal seizures activate a single gene, HSF1, also known as heat shock factor, in the cerebral cortex. This gene plays a crucial role in the response of brain cells to prenatal environmental stressors.

"The gene protects and enables brain cells to survive prenatal assaults," wrote the researchers in a news release. "Mice lacking the HSF1 gene showed structural brain abnormalities and were prone to seizures after birth following exposures to very low levels of toxins."

Yet what was more interesting was finding out how mice responded when the HSF1 gene was properly activated to combat environmental insults. It turned out that the molecular mechanism involved in activated the gene may permanently change how brain cells respond. This could make the mice more susceptible to neuropsychiatric disorders later in life.

Yet this isn't the only evidence. Work with stem cells revealed findings that support the theory that stress induces vulnerable cells to malfunction.

The findings are important for better understanding how to prevent and curtail psychiatric disorders. Although it's possible that different stressors may have different stress responses, this study opens the door to further studies to examine these conditions and responses a bit further. This could be particularly useful for conditions such as epilepsy, ADHD, autism and schizophrenia.

The findings are published in the journal Neuron.