Our past experiences influence who we are.  In the Baram lab we focus on early-life events, and especially early-life adversity (ELA) or stress; we investigate the consequences of early-life experiences and probe how they influence brain molecules, cells and circuits and how these changes may result in cognitive and emotional problems. Using cutting edge methods, we find new regions (e.g., the paraventricular thalamus) where early-life experiences get encoded, and identify new brain projections, epigenetics mechanisms and circuit plasticity through which transient ELA impacts brain function long-term in a sex-dependent manner. We perform our studies in experimental animals, and then translate them back to human children and adults.