Join the Developmental Psychology area for a talk by Dr. Katy Lenz (The Ohio State University)!
Title: Brains on the Brink: Early Adversity, Pediatric Brain Injury, and the Programming of Long-Term Neurobehavioral Outcomes
Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of pediatric emergency room visits for children under 10 years old. Early childhood TBI increases rates of psychiatric disorders and social difficulties. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to elevated risk for mood disorders and substance use disorders, when experienced chronically, as is the case for roughly 20% of Americans. Despite both the prevalence of ACEs and pediatric TBI, few previous studies have assessed their synergistic relationship, and none have assessed mechanistic underpinnings. We have performed rodent studies focused on modeling these insults pre-clinically and investigating the neurobiology through which two hits: early life stress & pediatric TBI exposure, impact neurodevelopment in limbic brain regions to contribute to psychiatric-like dysfunction. We have focused on the contribution of brain-resident immune cells, called microglia, to programming neurobehavioral development after two early life perturbations. This talk will provide an overview of our studies to date demonstrating behavioral, neuroanatomical, physiological, and transcriptomic outcomes of early life stress followed by pediatric brain injury and their dependence upon microglia, which give new insight into the mechanisms of brain development after early life perturbations.
About Katy Lenz: Katy Lenz is an Associate Professor in the Behavioral Neuroscience area of The Psychology Department at Ohio State. She is also affiliated with the Chronic Brain Injury Program and the Institute of Brain, Behavior and Immunology, and currently serves as Director of the Neuroscience Undergraduate Program. Her research program focuses on sex differences in brain plasticity and responses to perturbations during critical periods for risk and resilience, including early life, adolescence, and pregnancy.
The Developmental Seminar Series area features both internal and external speakers who are experts in a wide range of topics including the development of cognition, perception, learning, emotional processing, and social relationships.
For more information, contact Developmental Psychology area coordinator Zeynep Saygin.