Brain changes after childhood trauma and breakups

Rough childhood

Research consistently shows that childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for developing mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) later in life.

Root cause

Many forms of psychotherapy highlight unresolved childhood trauma as a key factor behind ongoing struggles and harmful patterns later in life.

Does trauma change the brain?

While research has suggested a link between childhood maltreatment and reduced hippocampal brain volume, the findings have remained inconclusive—until the results of the new study.

Trauma combo

This has prompted researchers to explore the hypothesis that these structural changes may stem from the combined impact of early adversity and later life stressors.

What is the hippocampus?

The hippocampus, shown in blue in this image, is a small yet crucial part of the brain involved in learning and memory. It's a flexible and sensitive structure that can be damaged by various types of stimuli.

Consequences of damage

Damage to the hippocampus, whether from Alzheimer's disease, an accident, a stroke, or an epileptic seizure, can impair the ability to form new memories.

Impact of aging

As we age, the hippocampus tends to shrink slightly. This natural decline contributes to the increased memory problems commonly experienced by older adults.

Linked to disorders

However, studies have shown that this brain region often experiences a reduction in volume alongside a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions, including depression.

What are the triggers?

To understand why these structural brain changes only seem to emerge later in adulthood, the new study aimed to identify specific life events that might trigger them.

Hypothesis

Second, the hypothesis from other studies suggesting that maltreated individuals develop survival strategies to cope with their abusive childhoods, but these strategies don't always equip them for adulthood.

Methodology

The researchers recruited 196 healthy young adults, averaging 24 years old, with an equal gender split.

Evaluation

They underwent assessments to evaluate their exposure to childhood maltreatment and experiences with romantic relationship breakups.

Questionnaires

Romantic breakups were evaluated through a questionnaire asking participants about their history of ending committed relationships.

Impact analysis

The researchers analyzed how childhood maltreatment and romantic breakups interacted to impact hippocampal volume, while controlling for factors like age, sex, and overall brain size.

Results

However, they found that the combination of childhood maltreatment and experiencing at least one romantic breakup was associated with smaller hippocampal volumes.

Types of maltreatment

The effects were more noticeable in the left hippocampus than the right, and appeared to be stronger for experiences of neglect and deprivation compared to abuse or threatening behavior.

Love treatment

Acosta explained that the study provides some evidence that having a stable, committed romantic relationship in young adulthood can partly serve as a resilience factor against the impacts of childhood maltreatment and past relationship breakups.