Stress may damage young brains

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children is related to shrinkage in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in the stress response, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers from Stanford University Medical Center studying 15 children who have suffered from PTSD (resulting from physical, emotional or sexual abuse, witnessing violence or experiencing lasting separation and loss) also found levels of the stress-hormone cortisol - which in animal studies has been shown to damage hippocampal cells - to be raised. This has led to the suggestion that very stressful event early in life could start a vicious spiral of increasing anxiety. This fits with the finding that having PTSD as a child increases the risk of depression and anxiety in adulthood.

Further research is needed to establish cause and effect: whether a smaller hippocampus is a predictor or consequence of PTSD. These results do seem to suggest however that major stress in early life may indeed damage the brain in a way that increases depression and anxiety in later life.