Stress and its link to brain cell cleaning processes that may affect lifelong disease risk

Psychological stress is strongly associated with pathogenesis in modern society.

• Stress impacts the central nervous system in ways that vary by age and cell type.
• Alterations in mitophagy due to stress disrupt central nervous system balance across different life stages.
• These disruptions may increase vulnerability to both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.
• An integrated 'cell-age-stress' framework suggests a link between mitochondrial damage and changes in gene regulation.
• Strategies for neuroprotective therapies could be refined based on specific life stages and cell types.

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