HOW DOES EARLY LIFE EXPERIENCE AFFECT ADULT PERCEPTION?

Pain in neonates is now an irrefutable fact and recent studies suggested different methods to measure it although the difficulties to adopt them to the clinical routine. Short and longterm effects of neonatal pain and stress in neurodevelopment have been demonstrated by several studies, with outcomes varying from hyperalgesia and sensitization to adult pathologies such as depression, anxiety and Alzheimer disease. The impairment of peripheral and central nociceptive pathways caused by early life experience encompasses four main processes: injury leading to pain, cell death, inflammation and neuroplasticity. Therefore, to prevent or minimize these outcomes, clinical routine must be aware of this essential matter. Particularly for newborns that demand intensive units care and repeated painful procedures there are recent attempts regarding this concern. The widely use of sucrose analgesia prior to painful procedures did not prevent hyperalgesia and should not be used as a single analgesic. Other strategy, as the use of environmental care, has shown better results with reduction in neonatal stress and superior brain maturation. Hence, further studies in the area of neonatal analgesia are required to implement best practices in the medical routine and prevent the consequences of early life pain experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]