Effects of Mindfulness Biological Processes Disrupted by Early Life Stress

The process by which the body responds to stressors to maintain homeostasis is called allostasis and is dependent on the integrated function of the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. ACEs adversely affect these system, cause allostatic load, and can modify development of allostatic systems. However, our central hypothesis is that exercise can reduce allostatic load by positively augmenting function of each of these three systems. No previous studies have examined the effects of structured exercise interventions in individuals with ACEs. We are proposing an integrative, pilot study to investigate the effects of 8-weeks of structured resistance and aerobic exercise on biomarkers related to nervous, endocrine, immune, and metabolic function and several clinical outcomes in young adult women with ACEs. Our specific aims will test several hypotheses, and are as follows: SPECIFIC AIM 1: We will conduct a feasibility study to explore whether progressive, structured exercise can help mitigate the adverse physiological effects of stress and trauma early in life. SPECIFIC AIM 2: We will determine whether progressive, structured exercise can help improve health related quality of life, anxiety, and traits like hope, self-efficacy, or self-control, resilience. SPECIFIC AIM 3: We will determine whether the type and timing of exposure to ACEs has a significant influence on the severity of psychopathology and long-term physiological response to ACEs. This contribution is significant because exercise has been shown to be a powerful stimulus capable of augmenting physiological function and improving health. These data will lay the foundation for testing exercise-based interventions in populations that are especially susceptible to the effects of ACEs, such as in childhood development (e.g., unstructured exercise programs in children such as an afterschool sports program), and can inform public health policy and provide data supporting larger scale studies using costlier, more time-consuming measurements related to immune function and inflammation, neurocognition, skeletal muscle health and function, or cardiovascular disease risk.