Symposium
Plenary Hall
Plenary Hall
Tuesday, June 17, 02:40 PM – 03:55 PM
Symposium 10: Adversity and altered states? The neurobiological signature of early life adversity on the brain, and relevance to psychoactive drug responses
Exposure to early life adversities such as abuse and neglect can profoundly impact neurodevelopment, and are recognised as a significant aetiological risk factor for nearly all psychiatric disorders. The lifelong changes in underlying neurocircuitry resulting from early life adversity may influence individual responses to psychoactive drugs, which is relevant for their medical and clinical application in pain management and psychiatry. Adversity-related variation in reward behaviours, acute subjective effects, and longer-term outcomes following drug use are believed to shape addiction trajectories. While substantial evidence from preclinical and human experimental models supports this narrative, emerging clinical trial data suggest that individuals with early life adversities may experience enhanced therapeutic effects from psychoactive drug-assisted treatments, such as ketamine and MDMA. This symposium aims to coalesce novel research on the complex insights of early life adversity on psychiatric symptoms and drug responses through a series of talks that bridge experimental rodent and human neuropsychopharmacology.
The first presentation of the symposium will be by A/Prof Erin Hisey (Boston University, USA) on the examination of early life stress from a preclinical perspective, utilising rodent models - including chronic social defeat stress, maternal separation, and limited nesting. Prof Hisey will focus on novel preclinical findings that utilise circuit- and molecular-level techniques to reveal a neurological signature left by early life adversity. The specific ways in which early life adversity reshapes neural circuits can influence adult reward-relevant behaviours, highlighting the need for potential targets that may prevent or reduce symptoms related to trauma-based disorders.
The second presentation by Dr Molly Carlyle (Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Norway) will extend these concepts through experimental drug administration procedures that assess subjective reward following early life adversity in humans. Existing placebo-controlled studies indicate significant variability in subjective drug reward after adversity, including heightened acute responses to opioids, negative responses to cannabis, and blunted responses to stimulants. Dr Carlyle will present novel data aimed at reconciling these contradictory findings by employing a person-centred, latent pattern-based approach that allows for the examination of both positive and negative drug effects within the same individual - recognising that drug use may yield benefits that outweigh adverse effects after early life adversity. That early life adversity may predict specific patterns of drug response may help to explain some of the heterogeneity in people in substance use disorder treatment, highlighting the need for individualised treatment approaches.
The final presentation by Prof Celia Morgan (University of Exeter, UK) will focus on clinical trial data that report differential responses of individuals with a history of early life adversity to novel psychopharmacological treatments. Both ketamine and MDMA show promise in treating mood disorders and PTSD, and emerging clinical trial data collected by Prof Morgan suggest that their efficacy may be influenced by a patient’s history of early life adversity. Understanding the role of early life adversity in variations in drug-treatment responses is crucial for developing and optimising the effectiveness of these novel therapies, indicating a potential need for tailored treatment protocols based on early life experiences.
The first presentation of the symposium will be by A/Prof Erin Hisey (Boston University, USA) on the examination of early life stress from a preclinical perspective, utilising rodent models - including chronic social defeat stress, maternal separation, and limited nesting. Prof Hisey will focus on novel preclinical findings that utilise circuit- and molecular-level techniques to reveal a neurological signature left by early life adversity. The specific ways in which early life adversity reshapes neural circuits can influence adult reward-relevant behaviours, highlighting the need for potential targets that may prevent or reduce symptoms related to trauma-based disorders.
The second presentation by Dr Molly Carlyle (Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Norway) will extend these concepts through experimental drug administration procedures that assess subjective reward following early life adversity in humans. Existing placebo-controlled studies indicate significant variability in subjective drug reward after adversity, including heightened acute responses to opioids, negative responses to cannabis, and blunted responses to stimulants. Dr Carlyle will present novel data aimed at reconciling these contradictory findings by employing a person-centred, latent pattern-based approach that allows for the examination of both positive and negative drug effects within the same individual - recognising that drug use may yield benefits that outweigh adverse effects after early life adversity. That early life adversity may predict specific patterns of drug response may help to explain some of the heterogeneity in people in substance use disorder treatment, highlighting the need for individualised treatment approaches.
The final presentation by Prof Celia Morgan (University of Exeter, UK) will focus on clinical trial data that report differential responses of individuals with a history of early life adversity to novel psychopharmacological treatments. Both ketamine and MDMA show promise in treating mood disorders and PTSD, and emerging clinical trial data collected by Prof Morgan suggest that their efficacy may be influenced by a patient’s history of early life adversity. Understanding the role of early life adversity in variations in drug-treatment responses is crucial for developing and optimising the effectiveness of these novel therapies, indicating a potential need for tailored treatment protocols based on early life experiences.