Psychology Article Review (Article by Cohen Et. al)

Psychology Article Review (Article by Cohen Et. al).
With the previous researches proving the association between the anxiety disorders and later behavioral and emotional abnormality with the adversities of the early-childhood such as neglect and abuse, the current study seeks to present evidence of the persistent and early alterations in amygdala function and anxious behavior following the early anxieties of incompetent parental care. The study seeks to answer two very important questions: first, what is the significance of the early-life experiences on a child’s later development?; and secondly, what evidence is there to show the persistent and early alterations in the amygdala function and apprehensive behavior following the early-life anxiety of incompetent parenting?
The significance of this research is based on its evidence-based approach in determining the effects of earl-life experiences of a child on his or her later development. Since previous researches have been more focused on the theoretical explanations of this relationship, it has been unclear as to what degree the experiences in the early-life affects a child’s later developmental growth. As such, this research is significant because its findings underline the degree to which these experiences affect the later development of the child and emphasize the why it is necessary to come up with early intervention for those at risk to deal with these early-life anxieties.
This experiment was carried out on male mice. Female mice were not used because they posted similar results in all aspects.

The mice were subjected to different conditions and their response and behavioral change monitored in each stage of the experiment. The two most important conditions these mice were subjected to were the conditions signifying care when provided with food and water and the conditions signifying neglect when deprived of these necessaries. They were also put in different cages (home cage and foreign cage) to signify the different environments. The changes in the brains of the mice were also recorded to monitor the changes both in the physical and psychological form. The methods used to find evidence of the relationship between early-life, and the later development of the child cannot be said to be exclusive. Monitoring the brain and behaviors of the mice within this short period does not guarantee accurate interpretation of the results.
The C578L6/J mouse used for this experiment is the most commonly used congenital strain and has had its genome sequenced. Even though it is intractable to several tumors, it is a tolerant condition for maximal expression for a number of mutations. The mice are reliable to this kind of experiment because it has a comparatively lower bone density, is defiant to audiogenic seizures, and develop age-associated hearing loss thus can survive in any condition presented to it. Another instrument used is the standard dual bearing sipper tubes that are reliable for this experiment since they are available in different sizes. Being a stainless steel instrument that comes in different sizes, the instrument is valid and reliable.
This is a quantitative research since it focuses on purposeful measurements and statistical analysis of the data and results from the experiment. The data obtained from this experiment was analyzed based on the behavioral results of the mice, the neural relationship and finally the comparison between the results obtained in the current experiment and the previous results obtained from orphanage adopted children to interpret the results in the human perspective. The major finding of the experiment is that there is proof of both persistent and early modifications in amygdala circuitry following ELS seen in rodents. This means that the early-life significantly affect the later developmental growth of a child or species.
Finally, this finding is important because it emphasizes the need to intervene early for those at risk as a result of the early nature of these early-life anxieties. As such, to improve this research, it should be made more reliable by adjusting the period of observation of the behavior of the specimen. The period taken for the experiment is too short and cannot provide the most reliable and conclusive interpretation of the behavioral change.
Work Cited
Cohen, Matthew Malter, et al. “Early-life stress has persistent effects on amygdala function and development in mice and humans.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110.45 (2013): 18274-18278.