title: Childhood maltreatment and stress-related psychopathology: the epigenetic memory hypothesis.
abstract: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is all too frequent among western societies, with an estimated prevalence of 10 to 15%. CM associates with increased risk of several psychiatric disorders, and therefore represents a worrying public and socioeconomic burden. While associated clinical outcomes are well characterized, determining by which mechanisms early-life adverse experiences affect mental health over the lifespan is a major challenge. Epigenetic mechanisms, in particular DNA methylation, represent a form of molecular memory that may modify brain function over extended periods of time, as well as serve as a bio-marker of behavioral phenotypes associated with CM. Here, we review human studies suggesting that DNA methylation is a crucial substrate mediating neurobiological consequences of CM throughout life, thereby potentiating maladaptive behavioral patterns and psychopathological risk.
authors.forename: Pierre-Eric
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Fiori
authors.affiliation: McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Verdun, Quebec, Canada, H4H 1R3. Gustavo.Turecki@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turecki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics