Traumatic experiences in childhood have a more significant impact on the brain than acute trauma in adulthood. Let’s look into the field of developmental trauma, and one of the ways this is so impactful… memory.
Developmental Trauma
The field of developmental trauma is a new interdisciplinary area of study exploring how traumatic events during childhood affect an individual’s brain and nervous system [1].
Developmental trauma is the early, persistent, repeated attacks on healthy development. This includes abuse, neglect, maltreatment, disrupted attachments, exposure to violence, or distress not typical for a child. This type of trauma at such a critical period of development has been found to have a profound impact on the general health and well-being of individuals well into adulthood [2]. The impacts on the mind, brain, and body are not simply outgrown. Childhood trauma causes chronic activation of the stress response system, dysregulating the nervous system, and leading to an imbalanced fight or flight response [1]. This impacts relationships, resilience, and overall worldview. And causes affective, physiological, cognitive, behavioral, self, and relational symptoms [2].
The ACE Study
The first study looking into this correlation was the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente published in 1998 [3]. This survey asks a series of questions meant to measure how many traumatic events happened in an individual’s childhood. Each question answered ‘yes,’ is one point. Significant evidence supports that increased ACE scores are correlated with decreased overall mental and physical health and well-being. For example, chronic illness, risk-taking behaviors, and suicidality all significantly increase as ACE scores increase. Additionally, individuals with higher ACE scores have a significantly greater chance of dealing with the United States’ top ten leading causes of death [3].
Memory
One reason trauma is so impactful on anxiety is due to the learning and memory mechanisms of the brain. During a stressful event, glucocorticoid levels are increased, causing stronger associations with the event, and a stronger and longer-lasting memory. Stressors concurrently activate glucocorticoid receptors and NMDA receptors in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. When NMDA receptor and glucocorticoid receptor activity converge, histone phosphorylation is impacted. This ultimately leads to gene transcription related to memory consolidation of stressful events [4].
NMDA Receptors
Glucocorticoid Receptors
With the release of glucocorticoids, the glucocorticoid receptor interacts with ERK, facilitating the phosphorylation of downstream nuclear kinases, specifically Elk and MSK of the ERK/MAPK pathway. The glucocorticoid receptor acts like a scaffold in this process.
Histones
Next, the glucocorticoid receptor phosphorylates and acetylates histone H3, forming the H3S10p-K14ac mark. These histone modifications are epigenetic mechanisms that lead to altering chromatin structure, promoting the transcription of genes. This results in the entry of immediate-early genes (IEGs) which are essential for memory formation associated with the stressful event [4].
Dealing with Trauma
So now what do we do with all this information? Trauma-informed care is an approach to social services that recognizes and responds to effects of trauma, while creating a safe space that reduces the risk of re-traumatization [5]. This includes practices to regulate the nervous system, therapies and medications such as those used to treat other anxiety disorders, and understanding the impacts of trauma on the brain and nervous system. Recognizing that trauma is something that happened to someone, not something wrong with someone, is vital. Society needs to shift from asking “what’s wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?”. We can start doing this by understanding the science behind childhood trauma.
References
[1] van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books.
[2] Perry, B. D., & Winfrey, O. (2021). What happened to you?: Conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing. Flatiron Books.
[3] Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8.
[4] Reul, J. M. (2014). Making memories of stressful events: A journey along epigenetic, gene transcription, and signaling pathways. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00005
[5] What is trauma-informed care?. University at Buffalo School of Social Work – University at Buffalo. (2024, May 29).
