Cited by 200Child Abuse and TraumaStress Responses and CortisolNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 194 of the 203 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 3 of the 182 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

The effects of early life stress on reward processing

Open access

Abstract

Early life stress (ELS), in the form of childhood maltreatment, abuse, or neglect, increases the risk for psychiatric sequelae later in life. The neurobiology of response to early stress and of reward processing overlap substantially, leading to the prediction that reward processing may be a primary mediator of the effects of early life stress. We describe a growing body of literature investigating the effects of early life stressors on reward processing in animals and humans. Despite variation in the reviewed studies, an emerging pattern of results indicates that ELS results in deficits of ventral striatum-related functions of reward responsiveness and approach motivation, especially when the stressor is experienced in early in development. For stressors experienced later in the juvenile period and adolescence, the animal literature suggests an opposite effect, in which ELS results in increased hedonic drive. Future research in this area will help elucidate the transdiagnostic impact of early life stress, and therefore potentially identify and intervene with at-risk youth, prior to the emergence of clinical psychopathology.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review integrates animal and human evidence on how early life stress (ELS) shapes reward processing, arguing that effects depend on stressor type and developmental timing. It proposes that ELS-related reward alterations may serve as transdiagnostic risk markers and potential intervention targets.

Key findings

  • In animal models, maternal separation often reduced reward responsiveness and approach motivation, but sucrose preference findings were mixed: decreased preference appeared in 4 of 5 studies using male Sprague Dawley rats versus 1 of 6 studies using male Wistar rats. Post-weaning social isolation more consistently increased hedonic/approach-motivation measures while impairing cognitive flexibility and reward learning.
  • Human fMRI studies generally linked ELS to reduced basal ganglia/ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation and/or delivery, especially when adversity occurred earlier in life. Low maternal warmth was an exception, associated with increased medial prefrontal and striatal activation during reward anticipation.
  • Reduced striatal reward responses were often associated with depressive symptoms and sometimes mediated the relationship between ELS and depression; similar patterns were reported for alcohol dependence, while ADHD showed comparable ventral striatal activity without mediation.
  • Timing appeared important: earlier stressors such as maternal separation or early institutionalization more often reduced approach motivation and reward responsiveness, whereas later periadolescent stressors such as social isolation or low parental warmth could increase reward sensitivity.

Methods

  • Systematic PubMed review of human and animal studies published before December 9, 2017, using ELS-related terms combined with reward-related terms; animal searches used maternal separation, social isolation, or early life stress with reward, reinforcement, or sucrose preference terms.
  • Inclusion required ELS exposure and a behavioral measure of reward processing; human studies also required fMRI with a reward task. Studies of drug reward were excluded, and data were extracted by at least two authors.
  • The review synthesizes preclinical behavioral and neurobiological findings with human neuroimaging results, applying NIMH Research Domain Criteria Positive Valence Systems constructs where possible.

Limitations

  • Stated: the human literature is smaller than the animal literature; studies vary in ELS type and timing, age at testing, and methods. Animal maternal separation work is especially heterogeneous in separation procedures, control groups, statistical approaches, strain, sex, and unreported laboratory conditions. Animal models cannot fully capture human ELS, and human fMRI tasks often lack behavioral measures.
  • Stated: parsing specific reward subcomponents is limited by task precision, since many paradigms engage more than one process.
  • Evident: this is a narrative synthesis rather than a meta-analysis, so findings are not quantitatively pooled and publication bias is not assessed; proposed interventions targeting reward processing in ELS-exposed populations remain untested in the reviewed literature.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.02.002

Cites

194 of 194 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

95 Not checked yet · 32 Own interpretation · 14 No basis given · 1 Supported so far · 1 Partly supported · 1 Own method · accuracy not yet measured

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Show all 65 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 67
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 23
79 of 79
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Animal models of early life stress (maternal separation, post-weaning social isolation) are valid analogues for human early life stress (e.g., institutionalization, maltreatment) in reward processing research.

    “Interestingly, this is similar to the developmental pattern that is seen in the animal literature, with maternal separation more likely to result in deficits in approach motivation and responsiveness to reward compared to post-weaning social isolation.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The developmental timing of stressors in animal models corresponds to human developmental periods (e.g., maternal separation to early childhood, social isolation to periadolescence).

    “Despite limitations in the available human and animal literature, decreased indices of approach motivation and responsiveness to reward appear to be more common when the stressor is experienced earlier in life (i.e., maternal separation in animals, or early institutionalization in humans).”
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Citations

Cites

1 retracted

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Andersen, 2008, Desperately driven and no brakes: developmental stress exposure and subsequent risk for substance abuse, Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.

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Metadata

Authors
Novick, A. M., Levandowski, M. L., Laumann, L. E., Philip, N. S., Price, L. H., & Tyrka, A. R.
Affiliations
  • Brown University (US)
  • Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
  • Butler Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Novick, Andrew M.
Venue
Journal of Psychiatric Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-06
Volume
101
Pages
80-103
ISSN
0022-3956 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2791377417
Cited by
192
References
203
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5
FWCI
3.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Psychiatric Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R25 MH090947, R01HD086487, R01 MH101107)
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (IK2 CX000724)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
early life stress, reward processing, child abuse, childhood abuse, child neglect, ventral striatum, approach motivation, transdiagnostic mechanisms, at-risk youth, psychiatric risk
MeSH terms
Adverse Childhood Experiences, Animals, Child, Humans, Reward, Stress, Psychological, Anhedonia

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