On Sat, 15 May 2004 18:07:22 +0000 (UTC), ssquirrel@nottheremailer.net
(Secret Squirrel) wrote:
>But ultimately these disorders, to be truly disorders,
>*must* tie back to malfunctions in brain chemistry.
>Even the environmental model I presented above, about
>stress-anxiety-depression, is ultimately connected to
>induced changes in neurochemistry.
http://www.heart7.net/brain.html
Until recently, mental health clinicians could only speculate
on the ways that abuse and neglect damage a child's
developing brain. But a series of ground-breaking studies
in neuroscience conducted over the last decade are
allowing researchers to pinpoint the actual changes in
children's brains caused by traumatic experience.
These new neurobiological findings show that trauma -
physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect - dramatically
affects both the structure and chemistry of the developing
brain, thus causing the behavioral and learning problems
that plague about three-quarters of the children mired in
the child welfare system. But the good news is that these
brain changes aren't necessarily permanent. In fact, timely
interventions - as in the case of Zachary - can help rewire
the brain and put psychological development back on track.
As Department of Social Services Commissioner Harry
Spence put it: ''Neuroscience has helped to clarify our
mission. We must do more than just protect children after
the brain damage has been done. We must also provide
loving environments because they are fundamental to
healing on a physiological level.''
Dr. Martin Teicher, an associate professor of psychiatry
at Harvard and director of the Biopsychiatry Research
Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, has been at the
forefront of this new line of research.
In one of the first major studies in the field published in The
Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences in
1993, Teicher linked abuse to brain wave abnormalities.
Reviewing the records of 115 consecutive admissions to
a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital, Teicher found
brain wave abnormalities in 54 percent of patients with an
abuse history, but in only 27 percent of nonabused patients.
And 72 percent of the patients in the sample with a history
of both physical and sexual abuse had these neurological
abnormalities.
As a rule, Teicher said, the greater the severity of the
abuse, the greater the impact on brain function. And the
relationship of the perpetrator to the child also matters:
''Sex abuse by a family member is worse than abuse by
a priest or a baby-sitter.''
Several studies now document that abuse damages key
brain structures such as the cortex, which is associated
with rational thinking, and the hippocampus, which helps
process memories and emotions. Both brain regions are
critical for learning.
In a study published in the same journal in 1998, Teicher
and his colleagues used brain scans to compare 15 child
victims of severe abuse with 15 healthy volunteers. The
left cortex of the abused group was underdeveloped.
Likewise, studies by Dr. Douglas Bremner of Yale and Dr.
Murray Stein of the University of California at San Diego
have found that the left hippocampus is smaller in abuse
victims.
Abuse also damages the amygdala, an almond-shaped
cluster of nuclei located in the brain's emotional control
center that enables us to respond quickly to danger - say,
to step out of the way of a swerving car. But repeated
abuse causes the amygdala to signal danger even when
there is no apparent threat.
Dr. Bruce Perry, a neuroscientist who heads the nonprofit
research center, the Child Trauma Academy in Houston,
said: ''A maladaptive amygdala makes an abused child
recoil in fear at the drop of a hat.''
This negative impact on developing brain structures is
associated with changes in brain chemistry. Overwhelming
stress early in life also alters the production of both the
stress-regulating hormone cortisol and key
neurotransmitters such as epinephrine, dopamine and
serotonin, the chemical messengers in the brain that
affect mood and behavior.
These biochemical imbalances can have profound
implications. For example, abuse typically lowers
serotonin levels, leading to depression and impulsive
aggression.
--
Dorothy
There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..
The Outer Limits
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