Stress early in life can affect child’s brain
Stress not only impacts a person’s health and behaviour, but their brain too
Scientists have discovered chronic, toxic stressors like poverty, neglect and physical abuse early in a child’s life can have a negative and lasting impact on his or her brain, according to a study published in Biological Psychiatry.
The study showed that certain parts of the brains of children exposed to more stress are smaller than those in other children.
Study looks at brain size
Researchers recruited 128 children around the age of 12 who had experienced either physical abuse, neglect early in life or came from low socioeconomic status households. They interviewed the children and their caregivers and took pictures of their brains, focusing on the hippocampus and the amygdala, which are involved in emotion and stress processing. These pictures were then compared to similar children who had not been maltreated.
The study showed that children who were maltreated had a smaller hippocampus and amygdala. More specifically, children who experienced any of the three types of early life stress had a smaller amygdala, while children from lower socioeconomic status households and children who had been physically abused had smaller hippocampal volumes.
Previous studies have linked early-life stress to depression, anxiety, heart disease, cancer, and a lack of success in school and in the workplace. Yet exactly how stress affects a person’s health has long remained a mystery.
“We haven’t really understood why things that happen when you’re two, three or four years old stay with you and have a lasting impact,” said Seth Pollack, co-leader of the study.
“It’s an important reminder that as a society we need to attend to the types of experiences children are having,” said Pollack. “We are shaping the individuals these people become.”
Further links:
Scienceworldreport.com
Psychcentral.com
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