Epigenetics: Stress makes its molecular mark - Nestler (2012) - Article

Summary with the article: Epigenetics: Stress makes its molecular mark - Nestler (2012)

Some people who are exposed to stress are more vulnerable to negative outcomes than others. Differences in epigenetics may explain this vulnerability. Epigenetic mechanisms provide short and long-term responses to stress.

Aggressive mice

When a person is stressed, gene expressions in areas the brain will be activated or inhibited. Many stress-induced changes are adaptive, but some are also harmful and can be permanent. Research has been done using mice which were exposed to other, aggressive mice. After ten days of this experiment, the mice started to avoid these other mice. They also became less interested, less adventurous and more likely to be obese. These symptoms could last for months and could be treated with antidepressants. It turned out that mice that had been given cocaine a week before being exposed to aggressive mice had more stress-related symptoms. Sensitive mice can be "made" more resilient by blocking epigenetic changes.

Epigenetic mechanisms are very important in understanding the effects of stress. Thirty percent of lost productivity worldwide is caused by psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia, all of which are aggravated by chronic stress. Partly due to the increase in productivity, lifespan and competitiveness, people are more exposed to stress. Now, it is necessary to understand why people react so differently to stressful experiences.