FASD: Understanding HPA Axis Dysfunction with Dr. Jerrod Brown (Stress Series Part 2)

Send us a text

Welcome to FASD Family Life the podcast for families by families where we get real about raising children and youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. I’m your host, Robbie Seale, FASD Educator, advocate and mom of four children with FASD. I know the struggle is real, but so is success. I hope that sharing my experiences can help you feel that you are not alone and that there is hope for you and your child with FASD.
I welcome you to join me with a hot cup of coffee and your notebook as we settle in and listen to Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., MA, MS, MS, MS talk about the HPA Axis. Prenatal alcohol expoure is an assult to fetal development. In this episode of Dr. Jerrod Brown will explain the damage to the body's stress response system by prental alcohol exposure which often results in HPA Axis Dysfunction.
"The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the system of interactions among the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. The primary role of the HPA axis is to
regulate a person’s response to stressful events and situations. Specifically, the HPA axis is
critical is assessing potential threats, initiating neuroendocrine responses when appropriate, and facilitating recovery after any potential threats have receded. Unfortunately, exposure to severe and/or repeated trauma, particularly during childhood, can result in HPA axis dysfunction across the lifespan." - Jerrod Brown
Jerrod Brown is a regular guest on the FASD Family Life podcast. Jerrod is an assistant Professor for Concordia Univerity, St. Paul, Minnesota and has extensive expereience teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Jerrod has also been employed with Pathways Counselling Centre in St. Paul for the past 17 years. Jerrod is also the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS) and the Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Scholars Today (FST). To learn more about Jerrod's work, or to contact him click the link below.
Do you have a question you would like me to address on the show or a topic suggestion? Email your comments, questions and topic suggestions to [email protected].
What to show me some love?
Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/fasdfamilylifepodcast)
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Jerrod Brown, Ph.D.
Email: [email protected]
Below are a few FASD articles found in the literature that mention the HPA axis:

Mead, E. A., & Sarkar, D. K. (2014). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and their transmission through genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Frontiers in Genetics, 154.

Kobor, M. S., & Weinberg, J. (2011). Focus on: epigenetics and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcohol Research & Health, 34(1), 29.

Kleiber, M. L., Diehl, E. J., Laufer, B. I., Mantha, K., Chokroborty-Hoque, A., Alberry, B., & Singh, S. M. (2014). Long-term genomic and epigenomic dysregulation as a consequence of prenatal alcohol exposure: a model for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Frontiers in genetics, 5, 161.

Wieczorek, L., Fish, E. W., O'Leary-Moore, S. K., Parnell, S. E., & Sulik, K. K. (2015). Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and behavioral dysfunction following early binge-like prenatal alcohol exposure in mice. Alcohol, 49(3), 207-217.

Reynolds, J. N., Weinberg, J., Clarren, S., Beaulieu, C., Rasmussen, C., Kobor, M., ... & Goldowitz, D. (2011, March). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: gene-environment interactions, predictive biomarkers, and the relationship between structural alterations in the brain and functional outcomes.

Support the show