EuroSTRESS is a pan-European multidisciplinary effort addressing the societal and economic burden resulting from depressive disorders. It increases knowledge about the basic mechanisms of stress-related mental disorders, which can be used for the development of new treatment strategies and the actual prevention of mental disorders.
EuroSTRESS focuses on two important questions:
How can early life experience and genetic background in concert evoke lasting changes in signalling pathways within the brain, resulting in altered behaviour and increased vulnerability to negative effects of stress in adulthood?
How can periods of repetitive stress or traumatic events in adulthood (against a background of life history and genetic vulnerability) disrupt brain function in such a way that the risk of precipitation of specific psychiatric disorders is increased?
EuroSTRESS Collaborative Research Projects:
Vulnerable Phenotypes for Stress-related Mental Disorders: focus on glucocorticoids (BALANCE)
The effect of Prenatal Stress Exposure on Child HPA-axis Function and Neurodevelopment: a gene-environment interaction study (PELS)
Developmental origins of Stress and Mental Health (DOME)
Behavioral Flexibility, Neuronal Plasticity and Depression: influence of stress during adolescence (Stress during adolescence and depression)
Success Story
Upon request of the European Commission, a “Success Story” was written for the EUROCORES Scheme Final Activity Report (Sixth Framework Programme, contract No ERAS-CT-2003-980409, period covered: 01/10/2003 to 31/03/2009)
