Childhood abuse can shrink the brain permanently, a new study shows.
Researchers examined the link between childhood maltreatment and the volume of cerebral grey matter. They found that adults who were abused in their childhood were significantly more likely to develop cerebral grey matter abnormalities. Researchers said that this is important as grey matter is responsible for processing information.
"Childhood maltreatment acts as a severe stressor that produces a cascade of physiological and neurobiological changes that lead to enduring alterations in the brain structure," said researcher Joaquim Radua from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and the British center, in a press release.
For the study, the researchers recruited 331 individuals with a history of childhood abuse. The control group consisted of 362 people who never experienced childhood maltreatment.
Researchers then analyzed grey matter volumes using a three-dimensional meta-analytical neuroimaging method called "signed differential mapping (SDM)".
The study findings showed that those abused as children had significantly smaller grey matter volumes in the right orbitofrontal/superior temporal gyrus extending to the amygdala, insula, and parahippocampal and middle temporal gyri and in the left inferior frontal and postcentral gyri.
"Deficits in the right orbitofrontal-temporal-limbic and left inferior frontal regions remained in a subgroup analysis of unmedicated participants, indicating that these abnormalities were not related to medication but to maltreatment," said Radua.
According to the researchers, the findings explain the why people who experienced childhood abuse are more likely to possess affective and cognitive deficits.
"These findings show the serious consequences of adverse childhood environments on brain development," said Radua.
"We hope the results of this study will help to reduce environmental risks during childhood and to develop treatments to stabilize these morphologic alterations," he concluded.
The findings were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
