By Joe Gramigna, November 9, 2020, NEI Max; Nov. 5-8, 2020.
Childhood abuse and neglect appear to have significant effects on brain structure and function, as well as on the epigenome, according to a presenter at the NEI Max virtual conference.
“Early life adversity can increase mortality and morbidity in adulthood,” Deborah A. York, MSN, PMHNP-BC, APRN, CCRA, psychiatric nurse practitioner at Mountain Mind Private Practice in Colorado, said in a presentation. “Early life adversity may include physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, household mental illness left untreated, household substance use and abuse, incarceration of a household member, parental separation or divorce and domestic abuse in the household.”
York noted that those with a history of childhood trauma have been found to have reduced gray matter volume in the hippocampus and amygdala. Moreover, meta-analysis of 21 functional MRI studies including 1,341 children and adolescents suggested early-life adversity was linked to greater activation of the amygdala, globus pallidus/parahippocampal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, cerebellum and thalamus.
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