1. Brain Development, Memory and Trauma in Maltreated Children
Robyn Finckbone
Loma Linda University
Memory and Coping
Introduction
Brain Development
In 2009 there were ~ 2.5 million reported cases of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. (45 reporting states)
It has been shown that victims of abuse experience elevated levels of:
Developmental Delays
Cognitive Deficits
Behavioral Problems
Academic Difficulties / Learning Disorders
Psychomotor Deficiencies
Neuropsychological Deficits
Social Maladjustment
Lower IQ Scores
Emotional Delays
Examples:
Some Sexual Abuse
Some Emotional Abuse
Sadistic Abuse by Caregiver
Holocaust
Not Generally Traumatic
Hurricane
Some Auto Accidents
Brain development is mediated by both environment and genetics
Children whose needs are met with hostility, violence, or neglect will strengthen brain pathways which prepare them for a cold negative environment.
Prolonged stress response in a young child has life-long negative impacts on brain development.
The brain spends all of its time focused on avoiding or coping with chronic stressful situations.
This focus will strengthen the neural pathways for fear and anxiety responses and therefore neglect other neural pathways.
Children who have these maladaptive patterns of brain development have not learned to function in a kind, nurturing world. They do not have the capacity to adapt to these types of environments.
Young children, specifically infants, who are exposed to chronic maltreatment / stress have increased levels of cortisol in their brain.
Coltisol can impact a child’s regulatory systems and can result in increases in:
Hyperactivity, Anxiety, Impulsivity, and Sleep Problems
High
Social - Betrayal
Low
High
Terror / Fear Inducing
Low
Neurological, Physical, and Psychosocial Development
Self Actualization
Aesthetic Needs
Need to Know and Understand
Esteem Needs
Belongingness and Love Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
Cortex
Limbic System
Midbrain
Brain Stem
Betrayal Trauma Theory – there is a social utility in remaining unaware of abuse perpetrated by a caregiver
“withdrawing from a caregiver could further threaten a child’s life” (Freyd, 1999).
For these children, “the situation demands that information about the abuse be blocked from mental mechanisms that control attachment behavior” (Freyd, 1999).
Memory impairment can occur in three ways: during encoding, retrieval or both.
Forgetting Abuse:
Research suggests that overwhelming fear may cause encoding disruptions in the following two ways:
Effects of emotional arousal at the time of the event may disrupt information entering the nervous system.
Fear and corresponding stress may impair brain regions responsible for important memory functions, thus leading to unawareness.
When fear is the primary response to trauma, the systems likely to be involved with memory impairment will be those that are affected by the deleterious impact of stress
such as the hippocampus and related structures.
“Figure shows a possible interaction effect, or relationship between neurological development (Perry, 2000) and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1970). The arrows are supplied by the author to better delineate a possible relationship.” (Cellini, 2004)
Neurological Implications
Region
Function
Impact of Abuse
Left Hemisphere
Regulation and oversight of logical responses to a situation; control and mediation of emotional responses generated by the right hemisphere
Diminished control of emotional response resulting in poor or inappropriate reactions to emotional situation: angry outbursts, self-destructive or suicidal impulses, paranoia, psychosis, and a tendency to pursue intense and ultimately unstable relationships
Prefrontal Cortex
Internal editor of emotional states, consequential thinking, moral reasoning, and reactions to emotional crisis
Increased potential for depression , and delinquent and criminal behavior.
Corpus Callosum
Communicates between the brains twos hemispheres.
Significantly smaller in neglected and abused children, causing non-integrated, inappropriate responses to everyday situations
Temporal Lobe
Regulation of emotions and verbal memory.
Poor modulation of emotions, increased chance for temporal lobe epilepsy (symptoms include tingling, numbness)
Amygdala
Creating emotional content for memories; mediating depression, irritability, and hostility / aggression; governing reactions and responses to fear
Significantly smaller in neglected and abused children, raising risk for depression, irritability, and hostility / aggression; also responsible for incorrect emotional “memories,” absence of fear-conditioning, and increased chance of psychopathic tendencies.
Hippocampus
Formation and retrieval of verbal and emotional memories
Lower performance on verbal memory tests; possible continued mental problems and concerns during adult years.
Cerebellar Vermis
Modulates production and release of neurotransmitters; has a significant number of receptor sites for stress-related hormones.
Increase in potential risk for psychiatric symptoms such as depression, psychosis, hyperactivity, and attention deficits. In rare cases, psychotic symptoms are possible.
There is evidence that the cognitive affects of child maltreatment are due to neurological changes in the brain (Cellini, 2004).
Children who have been victims of child maltreatment have increased levels of adrenaline which over-excite the limbic system
The Limbic System is responsible for appetite, emotions, and memory.
Delays or abnormal patterns of development in the brain, specifically the limbic and prefrontal cortex, can lead maltreated children to have deficits in their ability for “self-control, memory, emotion, judgment, consequential thinking and moral reasoning.”
As adults, these functional brain changes affect functioning.
Maltreated child’s brain perceive the world as a cold, dangerous, scary place and they may have difficulty creating warm loving interpersonal relationships.
Because the brain is changing so rapidly in structure and function in the first 3 years of life, that is the sensitive period for creating a person’s perception of the world.
References
Becker-Blease, K.A., DePrince, A.P., & Freyd, J.J. (2011). Why and how people forget. Why and how people forget sexual abuse. The role of traumatic memories. Post-traumatic Syndromes in Childhood and Adolescence; A Handbook of Research and Practice. First Edition. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2011.
Carrey, N.J., Butter, H.J., Presinger, M.A. & Bialik, R.J. (1995). Physiological and cognitive correlates of child abuse. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolsec. Psychiatry. 34(8).
Freyd, J.J. (1999). Blind to betrayal: New perspectives on memory and trauma. The Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Cellini, H.R. (2004). Child abuse, neglect, and delinquency: The neurological link. Juvenile and Family Court Journal.