Severe stress in childhood can have lasting effects on the brain throughout life. This could impair the parts of the brain responsible for learning, memory, stress management and emotions. Stressful events experienced at the age of 2-3 or 4 years can negatively affect behavior, health, work and even the choice of partner in adult life. This is suggested by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the United States. Their study consisted of conducting interviews with 128 children aged 12 on average and who suffered early from sexual abuse, abandonment or poverty. The brains of these children were observed, in particular the hippocampus and the amygdala, two areas involved in emotion and the response to stress. The images were compared to brain images of children from modest backgrounds who had a happy childhood.
Neurobiological changes
As a result, children who experienced severe stress showed smaller amygdalas and hippocampi than the others.
Should we conclude that stress in childhood will necessarily reflect negatively in adult life? The researchers remain cautious: the observations represent the markers of a neurobiological change, but do not augur an individual’s destiny.
This study is not the first to focus on effects of stress on the brain. The latest from the University of Iowa warns against chronic stress. It can cause memory lapses with age.
