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Papers of the Week


Papers: 21 Sep 2019 - 27 Sep 2019


2019 Nov 11


Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci


374


1785

Early-life injury produces lifelong neural hyperexcitability, cognitive deficit and altered defensive behaviour in the squid Euprymna scolopes.

Authors

Howard RB, Lopes LN, Lardie CR, Perez PP, Crook RJ
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2019 Nov 11; 374(1785):20190281.
PMID: 31544621.

Abstract

Injury occurring in the neonatal period in mammals is known to induce plasticity in pain pathways that may lead to pain dysfunction in later life. Whether these effects are unique to the mammalian nervous system is not well understood. Here, we investigate whether similar effects of early-life injury are found in a large-brained comparative model, the cephalopod . We show that the peripheral nervous system of undergoes profound and permanent plasticity after injury of peripheral tissue in the early post-hatching period, but not after the same injury given in the later juvenile period. Additionally, both innate defensive behaviour and learning are impaired by injury in early life. We suggest that these similar patterns of nervous system and behavioural remodelling that occur in squid and in mammals indicate an adaptive value for long-lasting plasticity arising from early-life injury, and suggest that injuries inflicted in very early life may signal to the nervous system that the environment is highly dangerous. Thus, neonatal pain plasticity may be a conserved pattern whose purpose is to set the developing nervous system's baseline responsiveness to threat. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of mechanisms and behaviour important for pain'.