"Mind, Mood, Microbes," presented by Bridget Callaghan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, UCLA

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. Within this talk, Dr. Callaghan will present data on 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. Using the microbiome-gut-brain axis as a model system which impacts on brain and body, she will show how adversity affects functioning across this axis in ways that are important for mental health. Dr. Callaghan will end by discussing how a focus on the microbiome-gut-brain axis can open new avenues for the prevention and intervention of mental health disorders.

Objectives: at the end of this presentation, participants will be able to (1) describe the neurobiological mechanisms through which early life experiences, including adversity, become biologically and psychologically embedded,…