Increased activation of the fear neurocircuitry in children exposed to violence.

ABSTRACT: Most studies investigating the effect of childhood trauma on the brain are retrospective and mainly focus on maltreatment, whereas different types of trauma exposure such as growing up in a violent neighborhood, as well as developmental stage, could have differential effects on brain structure and function. The current magnetic resonance imaging study assessed the effect of trauma exposure broadly and violence exposure more specifically, as well as developmental stage on the fear neurocircuitry in 8- to 14-year-old children and adolescents (N = 69). We observed reduced hippocampal and increased amygdala volume with increasing levels of trauma exposure. Second, higher levels of violence exposure were associated with increased activation in the amygdala, hippocampus, and ventromedial prefron

SUBMITTER: van Rooij SJH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7145742 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature