Timing Matters

Early multiple traumas and chronic stress in infants and toddlers results in a cascade of physiological changes to the brain and affect how the developing brain is structurally and functionally wired. Connections between the limbic systemand right prefrontal cortex are particularly effected in the first 2 years. These areas impact the child’s sense of self, capacity for self regulation and attachment patterns. The hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to abuse at three to five years of age. This the memory system of the brain that when impacted is highly linked to depression and challenges with impulse control. Between nine and ten, the impact on the corpus callosum is highly linked to suicide attempts. Between fourteen and sixteen years of age the prefrontal cortex damage is highly linked to drug abuse.

Type of abuse is important as well. Specific types of abuse seem to affect the cortical regions and sensory pathways involved in relaying and processing that aversive information. For example, witnessing domestic violence affects gray matter in the visual cortex and affects pathways that convey information from the visual system to the limbic system. In contrast, psychological abuse and bullying makes changes in auditory processing pathways.

These parts of the brain are impacted because the physiology of stress produces a shift in the body’s priorities. When threats begin to overwhelm one’s immediate resources a cascade of neurochemical changes that begin in the brain temporarily puts on hold the process in the body that can be thought of as future-oriented: finding, digesting, and storing food: fighting off colds and viruses; learning things that don’t matter right now but may be important sometime in the future. Increased cortisol helps to break down protein stores, liberating energy for use by the body. It suppresses the immune system, suppresses physical growth, inhibits, reproductive hormones and affects many aspects of brain functioning, including emotions and memory. Correction needs to happen early and has to happen before too many cumulative experiences set the system in place.

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