The slope of cortisol from awakening to 30  min post-wake in post-institutionalized children and early adolescents

Adverse care early in life has been shown to influence the development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in animal models. In rat and mouse pups, maternal separation (Levine, 2005) and manipulations that affect maternal behavior (Ivy et al., 2008) alter reactivity of the HPA axis. In non-human primates, lack of maternal care (i.e., nursery rearing) early in life relates to low basal cortisol levels and blunted reactivity (Capitanio et al., 2005). These data, among other studies, indicate that social experiences early in life have marked effects on the development of this neuroendocrine system (Sanchez et al., 2001; Loman and Gunnar, 2010).
Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research