The canary in the coalmine: The sensitivity of mesolimbic dopamine to environmental adversity during development

▶ Dopamine neurons are sensitive to biological programming during development. ▶ These changes are evolutionary adaptations to indicators of adversity. ▶ Both hypo- and hyper-dopaminergic phenotypes emerge. ▶ Directionality of change is proposed to relate to severity and chronicity of insult. ▶ These changes can confer vulnerability for psychopathology.