Children exposed to family violence become increasingly "tuned" to process possible sources of threat, a study reveals. The findings were reported in the December 6 issue of Current Biology of Cell Press publication. The same pattern of brain activity in these children are seen previously in soldiers exposed to combat.
Researchers used brain scans to explore the impact of physical abuse or domestic violence on children's emotional development and found that exposure to it was linked to increased activity in two brain areas when children were shown pictures of angry faces.
"Enhanced reactivity to a biologically salient threat cue such as anger may represent an adaptive response for these children in the short term, helping keep them out of danger," said Eamon McCrory of University College London, who led the study. "However, it may also constitute an underlying neurobiological risk factor increasing their vulnerability to later mental health problems, and particularly anxiety." These results will be very beneficial for experts working in the child psychology field.
Depression is already a major cause of mortality, disability and economic burden worldwide and the World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, it will be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease across all ages.
Childhood maltreatment is known to be one of the most potent environmental risk factors linked to later mental health problems such as anxiety disorders and depression.
The new study shows that children with documented exposure to violence in the home differ in their brain response to angry versus sad faces. When presented with angry faces, children with a history of abuse show heightened activity in the brain's anterior insula and amygdala, regions involved in detecting threat and anticipating pain.
Changes don't reflect damage to the brain, Rather, the patterns represent the brain's way of adapting to a challenging or dangerous environment. Those shifts may still come at the cost of increased vulnerability to later stress.
Sources: Science Daily, Current Biology
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