Exploring the intergenerational impact of adversity on mind-body health

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) is hosting a free webinar, “Intergenerational Effects of Adversity on Mind-Body Health: Pathways Through the Gut-Brain Axis” on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at 2:00 pm ET. The presenter, Bridget Laura Callaghan, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, Dr. Callaghan directs the Brain & Body Lab in the Department of Psychology and also heads the Mental Disorders and Pain research theme at the Goodman Luskin Microbiome Center.

The webinar host, Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., is the President & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and host of the Emmy^® nominated television series Healthy Minds. Register today to explore how understanding the brain-gut axis can unlock new approaches for preventing and treating anxiety disorders. 

Children’s early experiences impact their mental and physical health across the lifespan. Such early experiences can become biologically and psychologically embedded within an individual, contributing to intergenerational transmission of adversity. This presentation investigates the neurobiological mechanisms via which early experiences impact children’s mental and physical health, and how those experiences may be transmitted to impact future generations.

Dr. Callaghan will present data from several studies demonstrating how early life adversity gets ‘under the skin’ to influence children’s emotional health, especially anxiety, and their physical health, paying particular attention to gastrointestinal distress, which is tightly connected to emotional wellbeing. Zooming in on the gastrointestinal and oral microbiomes, she will show how adversity impacts biological systems tied to emotional and physical wellbeing, and how the gastrointestinal microbiome is linked to emotional health indirectly through the brain. She will discuss how study of the brain-gut axis can open up new avenues for the prevention and intervention for anxiety disorders and other mental health problems.