Author:
BREMNER J. DOUGLAS,VERMETTEN ERIC
Abstract
Childhood abuse is an important public health problem; however, little is known about the
effects of abuse on the brain and neurobiological development. This article reviews the behavioral
and biological consequences of childhood abuse and places them in a developmental context.
Animal studies show that both positive and negative events early in life can influence
neurobiological development in unique ways. Early stressors such as maternal separation result in
lasting effects on stress-responsive neurobiological systems, including the
hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and noradrenergic systems. These
studies also implicate a brain area involved in learning and memory, the hippocampus, in the
long-term consequences of early stress. Clinical studies of patients with a history of abuse also
implicate dysfunction in the HPA axis and the noradrenergic and hippocampal systems; however,
there are multiple questions related to chronicity of stress, developmental epoch at the time of the
stressor, presence of stress-related psychiatric disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder
and depression, and psychological factors mediating the response to trauma that need to be
addressed in this field of research. Understanding the effects of abuse on the development of the
brain and neurobiology will nevertheless have important treatment and policy implications.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Developmental and Educational Psychology
Cited by
316 articles.
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