There’s a growing body of research linking childhood trauma
(abuse, neglect, family dysfunction, etc.) to impaired brain
development and functioning. Maia Szalavitz at TIME’s Healthland
blog describes the findings of new study by Harvard researchers
(published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences): Now, in the largest study yet to use brain scans to
show the effects of child abuse, researchers have found specific
changes in key regions in and around the hippocampus in the
brains of young adults who were maltreated or neglected in
childhood. These changes may leave victims more vulnerable to
depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
the study suggests. CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
Study enrolled more than 17,000 members of study partner Kaiser
Permanente in San Diego between 1995 and 1997 and has been
tracking their medical status. Researchers have found higher
childhood stress to be associated with a greater risk of several
negative health conditions and b