Editor: Aigerim Akhmetova
Author: Inara Akhmetzhanova
The experience gained in the early periods of life may affect neurobiological development further. The study shows that mothers who experienced an indifferent attitude in childhood can pass this effect on to the next generation. Children of mothers who experienced emotional neglect in childhood have an altered system of interneuronal connections that are involved in the manifestation of fear and anxiety.
The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
"These results show that our brain development is influenced not only by what happens in our lives, but also by what happened to our parents before we were conceived," concluded lead author Cassandra Hendricks, Ph. D., Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Dr. Hendricks and her colleagues studied 48 mother-infant pairs starting in the first trimester of pregnancy. Mothers were given a questionnaire to assess their childhood traumas (experiences of abuse or complete indifference in childhood).
The researchers focused their attention on brain connections in the region of the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate gyri. These areas play a key role in regulating emotions. In addition, the amygdala is responsible for the realization of self-preservation instincts, as well as negative emotions: fear, anger and aggression. Infants whose mothers experienced emotional neglect as children had stronger functional connections between the amygdala and cortical areas.
“The findings add to the evidence that adverse early life conditions, such as maternal neglect, etc., are passed down from generation to generation. Further research on children in the long term will help us understand the functional significance of these changes in brain function in terms of the emotional and social development of children from mothers who experienced neglect in childhood.”
