Stress and Trauma in Childhood Alters Brain Structure and Volume: Study
Stress, poverty, neglect and traumatic experiences like physical abuse suffered during childhood have lasting effects on the mental well-being of individuals, according to a study.
Stress is known to cause both physical and mental ailments. People, who have experienced too many unpleasant events, mostly fall prey to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin in Madison found major changes in the brains of people who have witnessed extreme situation and stress during childhood. Early life stress particularly affects brain areas related to learning, memory and emotions in young children thereby, impacting them negatively throughout adulthood. These children are more likely to have problems with health, personal relations and career.
In order to confirm if childhood stress is associated to complications in other facets of life, the experts interviewed 128 children, aged about 12 years. These participants were either from poor households or victims of physical abuse or had experienced severe neglect and disregard in early life. The study noted if subjects had any behavioral problems and mental difficulties and also scanned their brain regions like hippocampus and amydgala - responsible for processing emotion and stress.
It was observed that children who reportedly suffered from one of the three early life traumas had smaller amydgalas compared to those who had a happy childhood. Subjects who were physically abused or came from economically-backward families had lesser hippocampus volume. Behavioral problems and mounting stress in childhood and adolescence was also linked to diminished volumes in both hippocampus and amydgala. But, the study could not accurately determine mechanisms that led to drastic shrinkage in brain volume and structure.
"We haven't really understood why things that happen when you're 2, 3 or 4 years old stay with you and have a lasting impact. Given how costly these early stressful experiences are for society unless we understand what part of the brain is affected, we won't be able to tailor something to do about it," said Seth Pollak, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin, in a press release.
The authors believe these findings are just bio-markers of neurobiological changes undergone by the human brain. But, it may not help to exactly predict long-term repercussions of stress in early years.
More information is available online in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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