Stress and anxiety across the lifespan: structural plasticity and epigenetic regulation

The brain is the central organ of the body's response to and perception of stress. Both the juvenile and the adult brain show a significant capacity for lasting physiological, structural and behavioral plasticity as a consequence of stress exposure. The hypothesis that epigenetic mechanisms might lie behind the lasting effects of stress upon the brain has proven a fruitful one. In this review, we examine the growing literature showing that...