Traumatic experiences in childhood not only result in psychological distress in adulthood but can cause structural changes to the brain. This means that trauma, neglect, emotional ill-treatment, and early life stress not only leave lasting psychological barriers but physical barriers as well.
These effects occur because children are in a period of their life where they are undergoing rapid brain development. Essentially, their brains are constantly forming, and changing or rewiring connections. This is often referred to as plasticity.
Scientific research is beginning to show that there are irregularities in some brain structures when looking at size (i.e., volume) and cortical thickness (i.e., width). These irregularities develop as a result of childhood trauma and demonstrate the lasting impact of this trauma. The areas that have been studied include the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and limbic structures. The function of these brain areas affects thoughts, emotion and behaviour, attention, memory, impulses and much more. Although these irregularities have been found, there have been inconsistencies between the exact changes that occur.
The current study wants to limit future inconsistencies by increasing the number of people being examined, using a smaller age range to prevent effects from outside influences, and measuring the size and thickness together versus separately. Measuring these aspects together allowed for better comparison between different structures. Additionally, socioeconomic status (SES) was controlled by including parental education and income.
What was Found?
The study confirmed that there is a connection between trauma and brain structure. Like other studies, there were changes in thickness and volume in certain regions of the brain. Areas that were found to be thinner than usual were gyri in the forehead region (gyri = ridge on the brain). Areas that were thicker include the left cingulate cortex which can be found in the middle of the brain. Trauma also resulted in smaller volumes in the amygdala and right putamen; both found within the middle of the brain.
What Does This Mean?
The brain areas that are affected by childhood trauma regulate attention/executive functioning, emotion, and self-referential processing (i.e., the process of relating information to yourself). This means that those who have experienced childhood trauma may be at risk for developing psychological disorders like anxiety and depressive disorders. Further research is required to test these implications.
Limitations
A limitation to this study is that the data used parental ratings to measure a child’s exposure to trauma. This means that the children did not rate the trauma they experienced and the ratings may underestimate certain types of trauma on brain development, such as when a family member is the perpetuator.
Source:
Jeong. H. J., Durham. E. L., Moore. A. M., Dupont. R. M., McDowell. M., Cardenas-Iniguez. C., Micciche. E. T., Berman. M. G., Lahey. B. B., & Kaczkurkin. A. N. (2021). The association between latent trauma and brain structure in children. Translational Psychiatry, 11(1), 1-9.
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