Anxiety study shows genes are not fixed: Experience and exposure can change them
"Adolescence is an important period of growth ," said Subhash C. Pandey, Ph.D., professor and director of the Alcohol Research Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "This is when the brain is maturing, and consistent epigenetic programing occurs. This is also a period when binge drinking is prevalent. Adolescent binge drinking can disrupt epigenetic programing in key brain regions by changing certain key molecular targets within the epigenome." Pandey explained that early life exposure to alcohol can have not only long-lasting effects on brain chemistry but also induce a predisposition to psychiatric problems such as alcohol abuse and anxiety disorders. "Anxiety disorder is highly comorbid with alcoholism," he said, "and adolescent alcohol exposure can lead to the development of high anxiety and alcohol intake in adulthood." Pandey will elaborate on these findings at the RSA meeting on June 25. "More specifically, our data ...