Exposure to stress in childhood can have a lasting impact on the brain, a new research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows.
Researchers examined what effect did high levels of stress have on a child's brain. The team found that chronic stress like poverty, neglect and physical abuse has a negative and lasting effect on the brain.
"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," Seth Pollak, co-leader of the study and UW-Madison professor of psychology, said in a press release. "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."
The study was conducted on 128 children, all aged 12 years. Researchers noted that the participants suffered from physical abuse or neglect and were from low-income households.
The team then interviewed the children and their guardians/caretakers. They mainly focussed on stressors and behavioral issues. Researchers also took images of the hippocampus and amygdale that are responsible for emotion and stress processing in the brain.
The research team then compared the answers and images to children of the same age, who were from middle-class families.
The findings showed that children who experienced stress early in life had a smaller amygdala compared to children who did not experience the same levels of stress. The stressed children also had a smaller hippocampus. Small hippocampal and amygdala volumes have been linked to behavioral problems.
"For me, it's an important reminder that as a society we need to attend to the types of experiences children are having," Pollak said. "We are shaping the people these individuals will become."
The study was published in the journal, Biological Psychiatry.
