Early life stress produces structural and functional alterations in prefrontal-hippocampal-amygdala circuits in animals and humans, with reduced hippocampal volume among the most reliable human findings¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2–r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2025: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In humans, reduced hippocampal volume is one of the most reliable findings in children exposed to early life stress, and it has been linked to increased psychopathology symptoms and deficits in learning processes. → Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020 q2 i? Children exposed to early life stress show heightened amygdala reactivity to emotional images and atypical PFC-amygdala connectivity, with longitudinal work showing atypical age-related trajectories of this connectivity. → Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020 (2)

Evidence¶

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020¶

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak. (2020). Early life stress and development: potential mechanisms for adverse outcomes. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-020-09337-y

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative review synthesis of human neuroimaging studies. The review identifies reduced hippocampal volume as "one of the most reliable findings in children exposed to early life stress," linked across abuse, neglect, and poverty to increased psychopathology symptoms and learning deficits. No effect sizes are printed.

"one of the most reliable findings in children exposed to early life stress is reduced hippocampal volume [ 29, 53, 56]. Reduced hippocampal volume in children exposed to a range of different types of early life stress, including abuse, neglect, and living in poverty, has been linked to increased symptoms of psychopathology"

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020 (2)¶

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak. (2020). Early life stress and development: potential mechanisms for adverse outcomes. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-020-09337-y

q2 · i? · review · r3

Narrative review synthesis of human functional neuroimaging studies. The review reports cumulative stress, severe neglect, and abuse are all associated with "heightened amygdala reactivity to emotional images," attributed at least partially to altered PFC-amygdala connectivity. No effect sizes are printed.

"Cumulative stress, severe neglect from early institutionalization, and abuse have all been associated with heightened amygdala reactivity to emotional images [ 28, 108, 109]. This heightened reactiv- ity appears to be at least partially a result of altered PFC – amygdala connectivity"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Chronicity, developmental timing, and intensity of adversity exposure shape children's neurobiological stress responses — related
• Cumulative stress predicts adult outcomes beyond specific stressor types in longitudinal studies — related
• Hippocampal volume relates to episodic memory differently across development: adults show head/body associations, children show tail associations — related
• Early life stress disrupts dopaminergic reward circuitry in animals and humans, with altered reward learning and links to depressive and anxiety symptoms — related
• Unpredictability and lack of contingent caregiver responding in childhood is associated with increased adolescent externalizing behaviors and altered prefrontal-hippocampal-amygdala circuits — related
• Chronic HPA axis activation via CRH and glucocorticoids is proposed to partially mediate the neural effects of early life stress — related
• Threat and deprivation show overlapping effects on PFC-amygdala connectivity and hippocampal volume — related
• Threat-related psychopathology associations appear more consistently mediated by stress response systems than deprivation-related ones — related
• The probability of school failure increases as a function of the timing and length of children's exposure to relational adversity — related
• Lower SES adolescents show greater stress-related increase in serotonin transporter gene methylation, associated with greater amygdala reactivity and depression symptoms — related
• Parenting quality and life stress fully mediate the relationship between SES and children's hippocampal volume — related
• Children's perception and interpretation of stressors, rather than event type alone, shapes neurobiological stress responses — related
• Children exposed to early adversity are at increased risk for a broad range of developmental difficulties affecting both cognitive and emotional adjustment — a broader claim this one bears on
• Hippocampal microstructure continues maturing after early childhood: anterior hippocampus loses mass and posterior hippocampus gains mass from age 4 to 25 — related