Tracy Bale's research into the influences of the prenatal
environment on the developing brain caught our attention.
Curious to know more, BioTechniques contacted her to find out
about the ambition, character, and motivation that led to her
success. Stressing the Importance of Development What interested
you in looking at the effects of the prenatal environment? In
most neuropsychiatric diseases, symptoms almost always present
after a stressful life event, even in individuals who are well
medicated or who never presented with an affective disorder
before. For example, a child with autism might be doing well,
but if that child is disrupted or stressed by a schedule change,
his symptoms may be exacerbated. This started me thinking about
what could cause such drastic disruptions to stress pathways.
Since it is unlikely that single genes cause the variance in
stress response, I began looking at how they could develop. This
led me to study the prenatal environment, specifically maternal
stress and diet. We focus on