How Does Child Abuse Affect The Brain
Taylor Beavers
ENC1101
Mr. Bradley
February 9, 2016
Child Abuse vs. The Brain
When children are abused it changes their lives. The three main types of Child abuse are physical, emotional, and sexual. As children grow the experiences from their environments around them are critical to future development. Early in life the brain has plasticity. This allows many windows of opportunity for the brain to thrive. Child abuse has the greatest impact on brain development in children. If hindered due to abuse or neglect, the brain can be altered and drastically affect the child's adulthood.
The human brain is a complex structure. From the first months of life the fetus creates neurons or specific cells that solely form the brain. These cells specialize …show more content…
and start to preform specific functions to operate brain activity. The brain becomes the powerhouse of the body and from there will dictate what cells need to be made and where they need to end up in order to eventually make who we are.
Early in life a child's brain is simple. There is a lot for the brain to learn. When a child experiences something new for the first time, the neurons make electrical connections called synapses. These synapses continue to make an interlock of connections in the brain with each new idea a child learns. These connections remain and are constantly used again, while the synapses that are used less frequently will stop growing.
Synapses are constantly multiplying at outstanding rates early in children’s lives. According to Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development,”… at its peak the cerebral cortex of a healthy toddler can create 2 million synapses per second. By the time children are 2 years old their brains have approximately 100 trillion synapses.” While this is happening the overall brain size will increase as well. By age 3 a child only has 10 percent of overall brain growth left. The brain will now rely on stimulation to set up its foundation for adolescence (Children’s Bureau, 2). Although most brain development occurs during the first years of life it will continue in adolescence. Before a child hits puberty the front lobe of the brain will learn to plan, control impulses and reason. Normal puberty and maturation of an adolescent will result in full growth physically, but mentally the brain will continue to develop. Alike to the young child, an adolescent will also constantly gain and loose synapses.
Both a child and an adolescents brain development is affected by their environment. Since the brain is so viable early in life, constant changes in development help the brain adapt to the child’s experiences. Developing and responding to individual experiences help the brain make synapse connections and literally wire the brain to respond to those experiences. Take learning language for example. No matter what language, when a child hears someone talk the neurons in the brain responsible for language will receive the stimulation to learn and respond to that language. The more children come in contact with language the more synapses that they will produce. This is how our brain adjusts to our unique ways of life.
Children need stimulation to kick start their brains and learn.
Without this healthy development a child will respond to a positive nurturing environment just as well as they would to a negative one. Child abuse will greatly alter the way a child’s brain develops, thinks, and responds to certain situations. Verbal, physical, and sexual abuse specifically target regions of the brain that deal with those experiences. According to Martin H. Teicher, “Maltreatment is associated with reliable morphological alterations in interior cingulate, dorsal lateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex, corpus callosum and adult hippocampus.” All specific regions affected by child abuse and its stress (Teicher …show more content…
241-266).
Cortical thickness determines whether brain development is healthy or not. When brain tissue is thick and dense it shows that a brain is well developed. Likewise when brain tissue is smaller and thinner it is considered underdeveloped. The brain consists of two hemispheres, the right and the left. The brain also has four sections of lobes the occipital lobe, parental lobe, temporal lobe, and frontal lobe. The frontal lobe of the brain controls emotions, memory, decision making, planning, and expression. Specifically in the frontal lobe is a section called the prefrontal cortex which manages the emotion and feelings section of the lobe (Sprenger 11-13). In some abused adolescents and adults their prefrontal cortex is smaller than normal. Individuals who were physically abused also exhibit a smaller orbitofrontal cortex. This is a part of the prefrontal cortex that controls cognitive processing in decision-making.
Even more important, the corpus callosum is a section of the brain that connects both the left and right hemisphere. Abused or neglected children and adolescents show signs of decreased size in the corpus callosum which is responsible for communications (Children’s Bureau, 6).
Each of the specific brain parts mentioned have one element in common, they are all smaller than normal. Testing these specific sections in children who have been abused will allow us to understand the future ramifications of decreased tissue volume. Scientists believe that the thinning of the brain acts as a protective mechanism for the child.
The thinning protects a child from a negative sensory experience such as abuse. Even though thinning is protection for the brain it can also alter overall development and behavioral issues in a child’s future. Condensing of brain volume is due to child abuse that allows sensory experiences to develop improperly. Other altercations take place due to the thinning in a child’s brain. Children who have been abused may be at a higher risk of illness such as depression, PTSD, and addictions. (Miyazaki)
Another example of altercation in the brain is in a section called the hippocampus. This section is critical for learning and memory. Stress can hinder the hippocampus to control cortisol levels and keep them normal after a stressful situation has taken place. (Carey) Due to the effect of stress from abuse some of a child’s brain cells can actually die off. This is dangerous to the well-being of the child especially if stress continues. When stress levels remain on high alert synapses start to make connections to situations that may not even be
stressful. When the stress system is misled it can also lead to anxiety, fear, or lack of pleasure. Ramifications which would further lead abused children to revert to alcohol and drugs. Aftereffects such as risk of mental illness, chronic disease, high blood pressure, and abuse of future children, are also large concerns of currently abused children. In emotional abuse specifically it can also be common to see abused children having frequent headaches from stress (Healthcare Traveler).
Sheridan age twenty two has dealt with the effects of emotional child abuse. His abuse started when he was young and lasted all the way into adulthood. This experience has now affected the way he thinks and acts. He is addicted to drugs. Sheridan’s brother hunter age twenty has also been effected by this emotional abuse and was recently diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Both boys grew up as good kids in a home that was broken. Unfortunately the effects of abuse caused series trauma to both of their brains.
Children are amazing and so are their brains. From the minute they are born they immediately start to learn how the world works. This is what is fascinating about the brain and what drives many individuals to spend endless hours studying the brain in order to understand it.
We realize now that child abuse will result to terrible altercations in overall brain development. Abused children will also show signs of delayed cognitive development compared to kids who have not been abused, and many children or adolescents who have experienced child abuse are more prone to mental illness in their future (Konopka).
Since the Overall brain size in abused children is much smaller than normal it’s freighting to think the brain could remain in this condition. This fortunately isn’t true to how our brain continues to work. By seeking help and counseling multiple individuals can create new synapses and make new healthy connections even into adulthood. The brain is complicated and very complex; it is constantly developing new ideas, and experiences. It may take a little longer for an adult to recover from abuse but it’s possible. Research should continue to help save children from child abuse induced mental, and physical illnesses in their future.
No one should have to suffer from child abuse; it only creates more pain for the individual and their brain.
ENC1101
Mr. Bradley
February 9, 2016
Child Abuse vs. The Brain
When children are abused it changes their lives. The three main types of Child abuse are physical, emotional, and sexual. As children grow the experiences from their environments around them are critical to future development. Early in life the brain has plasticity. This allows many windows of opportunity for the brain to thrive. Child abuse has the greatest impact on brain development in children. If hindered due to abuse or neglect, the brain can be altered and drastically affect the child's adulthood.
The human brain is a complex structure. From the first months of life the fetus creates neurons or specific cells that solely form the brain. These cells specialize …show more content…
and start to preform specific functions to operate brain activity. The brain becomes the powerhouse of the body and from there will dictate what cells need to be made and where they need to end up in order to eventually make who we are.
Early in life a child's brain is simple. There is a lot for the brain to learn. When a child experiences something new for the first time, the neurons make electrical connections called synapses. These synapses continue to make an interlock of connections in the brain with each new idea a child learns. These connections remain and are constantly used again, while the synapses that are used less frequently will stop growing.
Synapses are constantly multiplying at outstanding rates early in children’s lives. According to Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development,”… at its peak the cerebral cortex of a healthy toddler can create 2 million synapses per second. By the time children are 2 years old their brains have approximately 100 trillion synapses.” While this is happening the overall brain size will increase as well. By age 3 a child only has 10 percent of overall brain growth left. The brain will now rely on stimulation to set up its foundation for adolescence (Children’s Bureau, 2). Although most brain development occurs during the first years of life it will continue in adolescence. Before a child hits puberty the front lobe of the brain will learn to plan, control impulses and reason. Normal puberty and maturation of an adolescent will result in full growth physically, but mentally the brain will continue to develop. Alike to the young child, an adolescent will also constantly gain and loose synapses.
Both a child and an adolescents brain development is affected by their environment. Since the brain is so viable early in life, constant changes in development help the brain adapt to the child’s experiences. Developing and responding to individual experiences help the brain make synapse connections and literally wire the brain to respond to those experiences. Take learning language for example. No matter what language, when a child hears someone talk the neurons in the brain responsible for language will receive the stimulation to learn and respond to that language. The more children come in contact with language the more synapses that they will produce. This is how our brain adjusts to our unique ways of life.
Children need stimulation to kick start their brains and learn.
Without this healthy development a child will respond to a positive nurturing environment just as well as they would to a negative one. Child abuse will greatly alter the way a child’s brain develops, thinks, and responds to certain situations. Verbal, physical, and sexual abuse specifically target regions of the brain that deal with those experiences. According to Martin H. Teicher, “Maltreatment is associated with reliable morphological alterations in interior cingulate, dorsal lateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex, corpus callosum and adult hippocampus.” All specific regions affected by child abuse and its stress (Teicher …show more content…
241-266).
Cortical thickness determines whether brain development is healthy or not. When brain tissue is thick and dense it shows that a brain is well developed. Likewise when brain tissue is smaller and thinner it is considered underdeveloped. The brain consists of two hemispheres, the right and the left. The brain also has four sections of lobes the occipital lobe, parental lobe, temporal lobe, and frontal lobe. The frontal lobe of the brain controls emotions, memory, decision making, planning, and expression. Specifically in the frontal lobe is a section called the prefrontal cortex which manages the emotion and feelings section of the lobe (Sprenger 11-13). In some abused adolescents and adults their prefrontal cortex is smaller than normal. Individuals who were physically abused also exhibit a smaller orbitofrontal cortex. This is a part of the prefrontal cortex that controls cognitive processing in decision-making.
Even more important, the corpus callosum is a section of the brain that connects both the left and right hemisphere. Abused or neglected children and adolescents show signs of decreased size in the corpus callosum which is responsible for communications (Children’s Bureau, 6).
Each of the specific brain parts mentioned have one element in common, they are all smaller than normal. Testing these specific sections in children who have been abused will allow us to understand the future ramifications of decreased tissue volume. Scientists believe that the thinning of the brain acts as a protective mechanism for the child.
The thinning protects a child from a negative sensory experience such as abuse. Even though thinning is protection for the brain it can also alter overall development and behavioral issues in a child’s future. Condensing of brain volume is due to child abuse that allows sensory experiences to develop improperly. Other altercations take place due to the thinning in a child’s brain. Children who have been abused may be at a higher risk of illness such as depression, PTSD, and addictions. (Miyazaki)
Another example of altercation in the brain is in a section called the hippocampus. This section is critical for learning and memory. Stress can hinder the hippocampus to control cortisol levels and keep them normal after a stressful situation has taken place. (Carey) Due to the effect of stress from abuse some of a child’s brain cells can actually die off. This is dangerous to the well-being of the child especially if stress continues. When stress levels remain on high alert synapses start to make connections to situations that may not even be
stressful. When the stress system is misled it can also lead to anxiety, fear, or lack of pleasure. Ramifications which would further lead abused children to revert to alcohol and drugs. Aftereffects such as risk of mental illness, chronic disease, high blood pressure, and abuse of future children, are also large concerns of currently abused children. In emotional abuse specifically it can also be common to see abused children having frequent headaches from stress (Healthcare Traveler).
Sheridan age twenty two has dealt with the effects of emotional child abuse. His abuse started when he was young and lasted all the way into adulthood. This experience has now affected the way he thinks and acts. He is addicted to drugs. Sheridan’s brother hunter age twenty has also been effected by this emotional abuse and was recently diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Both boys grew up as good kids in a home that was broken. Unfortunately the effects of abuse caused series trauma to both of their brains.
Children are amazing and so are their brains. From the minute they are born they immediately start to learn how the world works. This is what is fascinating about the brain and what drives many individuals to spend endless hours studying the brain in order to understand it.
We realize now that child abuse will result to terrible altercations in overall brain development. Abused children will also show signs of delayed cognitive development compared to kids who have not been abused, and many children or adolescents who have experienced child abuse are more prone to mental illness in their future (Konopka).
Since the Overall brain size in abused children is much smaller than normal it’s freighting to think the brain could remain in this condition. This fortunately isn’t true to how our brain continues to work. By seeking help and counseling multiple individuals can create new synapses and make new healthy connections even into adulthood. The brain is complicated and very complex; it is constantly developing new ideas, and experiences. It may take a little longer for an adult to recover from abuse but it’s possible. Research should continue to help save children from child abuse induced mental, and physical illnesses in their future.
No one should have to suffer from child abuse; it only creates more pain for the individual and their brain.