London (Reuters) – the children suffering from family violence show the same pattern of brain activity as exposed to combat, soldiers noted scientists.
In a study published in the journal Current Biology, the researchers used brain scans to assess the impact of physical abuse or domestic violence on children’s emotional development and found that it was related to increased activity in two areas of the brain.
Previous studies that controlled the brains of soldiers exposed to violent combat situations showed the same pattern of high-activity in these two regions – the previous Insula and the amygdala, which experts indicate that they are associated with the detection of possible threats.
This suggests that both abused children and the soldiers would have adapted to be “hiper-atentos” the danger in their environment, said the researchers.
“The reaction improved to a (…)” “threat as anger represent an adaptive response of these children in the short term, what helps them to stay away from danger”, said Eamon McCrory, University College London, who directed the investigation.
But the expert added that this type of responses would be also showing a risk factor underlying neurobiological which increases the susceptibility of children to mental illnesses future, as the depression.
Depression is already one of the main causes of mortality, disability and economic global burden and the World Health Organization (who) provides that, by 2020, it will be the second largest contributor to the global burden of disease in all ages.
It is known that child abuse is one of the strongest environmental risk factors related to the mental health problems in the future, as disorders of anxiety and depression.
A study published in August revealed that persons suffering from abuse in children were twice more likely than those with normal childhoods to develop depression persistent and recurrent, and less likely to respond well or quickly to treatment for his illness mental.
McCrory said that still know relatively little about how this type of early adversity “be internalised and increases the future vulnerability of children, even in adulthood”.
In research, 43 children were subjected to brain controls through images by magnetic resonance functional (neuroimaging). Twenty children who knew that they had been exposed to physical abuse in the home were compared with 23 who had not experienced family violence. The average age of abused children was 12 years and all had been referred to local social services in London
When the children were in the scanner is showed them pictures of faces of men and women with expressions of sadness, calm or anger. The researchers found that those who have experienced violence presented greater brain activity in the previous Insula and the amygdala in response to the expensive outbursts.
“Now simply are beginning to understand how child abuse affect the functioning of the brain emotional systems”, said McCrory.
“This research (…)” “provides our first indications about how regions in the brain of the child performers to the early experiences of abuse”, was completed.
