Adverse childhood experiences and hippocampal volumetric reductions: MRI study | Hacker News Reader

Adverse childhood experiences and hippocampal volumetric reductions: MRI study

sciencedirect.com

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I'm in a 12-Step program for an addiction (have been since 1998), and have met hundreds of other 12-steppers over the years in multiple fellowships. I see two incredibly common traits among members:

1. A significant majority have ADHD.

2. A significant majority have experienced childhood trauma of some sort.

Hippocampal damage has been linked to increased hyperactivity and diminution of response inhibition (among other affects, mainly memory related). This is not a surprise.

Are they all addicted to prescription amphetamines now, instead of alcohol? What about cigarettes?

> Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic or stressful events that occur in the first 18 years of life (V. J. Felitti et al., 2019). Exposure to ACEs typically consists of childhood exposure to abuse (sexual, physical, emotional), neglect (physical or emotional), or household dysfunction (parental mental health or substance use challenge, divorce, witnessing domestic violence, parental incarceration, etc.).

I skimmed through the interesting parts of the paper, and studies like this are important for encouraging more efforts toward prevention. But what can we do for the people who have already experienced this? How can we undo the damage, especially when the effects seem significant and permanent?

Amen.

I grew up in the days of "Tough Love." It destroyed the family. This many years later and there is still no chance of re-connection.

That was a total failure of a program. And they lacked competing theories on raising "problematic" children that were, say, less hostile than Tough Love.

Ruined families are not so rare. What is rare is treatment for those who are in the "after" group.

That's just one example of so many.

> How can we undo the damage, especially when the effects seem significant and permanent?

"As such, the hippocampus and hippocampal neuroplasticity may also play a key role in resilience and recovery from stress. This is supported by the current finding that hippocampal volume increased following psychological therapy."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5943737/

"we found a significant [hippocampal] volume expansion during a 12-week treatment period, which correlated with clinical improvement"

https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-32...

Increased hippocampal volume and gene expression following cognitive behavioral therapy in PTSD

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/arti...

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