WashU Medicine researchers found that stress in early life stretches the genetic slinky, leaving a lasting effect on the brain that makes a person more vulnerable to stress later in life. “This finding reveals a physical scar left by trauma experienced during development inside brain cells, providing scientists with a concrete biological target to develop new treatments and interventions.” They focused on a region of the brain called the ventral tegmental area where brain cells that produce dopamine — a chemical messenger — are responsible for processing important things in the environment, including rewards and adversity. Even without early-life stress, these mice grew up with a stretched-open DNA structure in their dopamine-producing brain cells, making it easier to turn on the genes that respond to stress. WashU Medicine physicians also treat patients at BJC’s community hospitals in our region.