Question: Can early postnatal separation from a primary caregiver contribute to the development of schizophrenia later in life? For instance, what are the potential effects if an infant is separated from their mother for several weeks immediately after birth?

 

The development of schizophrenia following early maternal separation likely reflects the interaction of early neurodevelopmental disruption with heightened biological sensitivity — a core concept in the Sensitivity Threshold Model (STM), and one supported by neurodevelopmental and attachment-based theories of schizophrenia.

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Here’s a breakdown of the likely mechanisms involved, integrating STM and conventional science:

🔹 1. Early Separation as a Neurodevelopmental Stressor

• Sensitive Period Disruption: The postnatal period is a critical window for neurobiological calibration — especially for stress regulation systems like the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) and emotional-attunement networks.
   

• Separation during this window can:

  • Disruption of oxytocin and vasopressin signaling, affecting bonding, social cognition, and stress buffering.

  • Overactivation of the infant’s HPA axis, raising baseline cortisol and priming the system for heightened stress reactivity later in life.

  • Altered limbic and prefrontal cortex development, impairing emotional regulation and cognitive resilience.

🔹 2. Sensory and Attachment Deprivation in STM Context

From the STM perspective:

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• Highly sensitive infants require stable, attuned caregiving to filter environmental and internal input.

• Early separation increases cognitive and sensory load precisely when the infant's buffering systems are weakest — essentially a form of early load-induced injury to a biologically sensitive brain.

• The child’s developing brain, undernourished in emotional regulation and overstimulated by unfiltered environmental inputs, begins to miswire predictive and filtering circuits, setting the stage for later breakdown under life stress.