Children consistently exposed to severe stress have real changes to the hippocampus of their brains according to a new study. If you are parenting a severely traumatized child in your home, you probably already know that their brains function differently than a healthy child’s brain. You’ve probably already seen the impulsivity, agitation, hyper-vigilance, and avoidance behaviors exhibited in your home by a child with untreated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Finally, you have proof! Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. have completed the first study ever to examine the brain activity patterns in severely traumatized children.

The brain activation patterns of children were compared using an experimental technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. Researchers compared the brain patterns of children with PTSD symptoms to children of the same age and gender who had not been severely traumatized.

While the children performed simple task requiring decision-making the fMRI detected changes in blood flow and oxygenation, which indicated increased neuronal activity in different regions of the brain. While both groups of children did equally well on the test, the researchers found that the two groups used different parts of their brains to make the decisions.

During the decision-making process, the children with PTSD symptoms showed less activity in the left middle frontal cortex than their non-traumatized peers. This particular area is involved in response inhibition. The children with PTSD also showed more activity in several other regions of their brains, including the insula, which is involved in emotional awareness.

Researchers found a correlation between increased severity of PTSD symptoms and increased activity of the insula. They also found that children who cut or burn themselves exhibited unique patterns of activation in the region of the brain involved in pain and emotion perception.

Researchers are not yet clear whether the brain processing differences are caused by the severe trauma like sexual or physical abuse, or if pre-existing brain differences cause some children to develop PTSD after traumatic events.

However, they are hopeful that functional imaging like FMRI will help them to devise better therapies for treatment. By comparing images before and after therapy they will be able to determine what works and what doesn’t. They also hope to discover whether disorders with overlapping symptoms, such as ADHD and PTSD are actually related by using this technology.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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