Early life experiences can affect brain development and neurobiologic health. New research shows that these effects can be passed on to later generations, reporting that children of mothers who were emotionally neglected in childhood had altered brain circulation display that was involved in fear and anxiety responses. The study appears in Biology Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier.
“These results show that the development of our brain is not only shaped by what happens in our own lives, but is also influenced by what happened to our parents before we were born. namely, “said the lead author of the study, Cassandra Hendrix, PhD, Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Dr. Hendrix and her colleagues studied 48 pairs of black mother-infants beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy. Mothers were given a questionnaire to assess childhood trauma (experiences of abuse or early neglect). The mothers were also evaluated for normal stress levels, preterm birth, and for anxiety and depression. One month after birth, babies underwent a brain scan using magnetic resonance imaging of a relaxed state function, a noninvasive technology that could be used while the babies were sleeping naturally.
“These amazing results diminish our ability to image the brain and how it works very early in our lives,” said Cameron Carter, MD, Editor of Biological Psychology: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.The researchers focused on brain connections between the amygdala, which is at the heart of the processing of frightening emotions, and two other brain regions: the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex.Each area plays a key role in The children of mothers with emotionally neglected childhood had stronger functional connections between the amygdala and the cortical regions.
After controlling maternal normal stress levels, the researchers found that the more emotional neglect a mother had experienced in her own childhood, the stronger her baby’s amygdala was attached to the facial cortical regions. Physical abuse or neglect of the mother was not tied to the stronger bond. The findings show that childhood emotional neglect has an intergenerational effect on brain structure and function. The importance of the stronger link remains unclear, Dr. Hendrix said.
“The neural signature we saw in infants of 1-month-old mothers with emotional neglect may be a way to increase the risk for anxiety, or it may be a compensatory mechanism that encourages suffering unknowingly. the child will have such supportive carers. ” Dr Hendrix said, “In all cases, emotional neglect from a mother’s own childhood seems to leave a neural signature in her child that may be predicting the child to pose a threat in the environment. easier findings from birth. Our findings highlight the importance of emotional support early in life, even for later generations. “
“The findings add to evidence of intergenerational outcomes against early life, such as maternal neglect,” said Dr. Carter. “Future studies that follow children in the long term will help us to ‘understand the effect of the action of these changes in brain function on the emotional and social development of children of mothers of early neglect. “