Experiencing abuse during childhood may alter how the brain processes emotions later in life, according to a new study.
Researchers found that the age at which abuse occurs may determine which parts of the brain are affected, helping explain why survivors face a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood.
The findings, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that emotional, physical, or sexual abuse does not affect the brain uniformly throughout childhood. Instead, abuse experienced before adolescence appears to produce different long-term effects from abuse that occurs during the teenage years.
The brain relies on a network of regions to process emotions and respond to the world. Two key areas are the amygdala and the hippocampus. The amygdala rapidly detects emotional signals, particularly danger or threats, while the hippocampus links emotions to memories and past experiences.
Together, these regions enable people to process emotions in two ways. One is conscious processing, in which a person has enough time to recognise and reflect on what they are feeling. The other is automatic processing, where the brain responds to emotional information before the person is consciously aware of it.
Researchers have long known that childhood abuse increases the risk of mental illness in adulthood. However, less is understood about how abuse changes the brain's response to emotions or whether the age at which it occurs influences those changes.
To investigate these questions, the researchers analysed brain scans from 635 adults aged 18 to 65. Among them, 399 had no history of childhood abuse, while 236 reported experiencing emotional, physical, or sexual abuse before the age of 18. Some participants had depression, anxiety, or PTSD, while others had no diagnosed mental health condition.
During the study, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a brain-scanning technique that measures activity by tracking blood flow. While inside the scanner, they viewed images of faces displaying emotions including fear, anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, and neutral expressions.
Some images remained on the screen long enough for participants to consciously recognise the facial expressions. Others appeared for only a fraction of a second—too briefly for conscious recognition—allowing researchers to examine the brain's automatic emotional responses.
The results showed that the timing of abuse played a significant role in shaping how the brain functioned later in life.
People who experienced abuse before the age of 13 showed increased activity in the hippocampus during automatic emotional processing. This suggests that early childhood trauma may become deeply embedded in emotional memory, causing the brain to react to emotional situations without conscious awareness.
By contrast, those who experienced abuse between the ages of 13 and 18 showed increased activity in the amygdala during conscious emotional processing. This indicates that trauma during adolescence may heighten sensitivity to emotional or threatening situations that individuals are consciously aware of.
"The study showed that the age at which abuse occurred mattered. The same type of traumatic experience affected different brain regions depending on whether it happened in early childhood or during adolescence."
The researchers also found that these brain changes were present across people with different mental health conditions. This suggests that the effects of childhood abuse may reflect lasting changes in the brain rather than simply mirroring current symptoms of depression, anxiety, or PTSD.
According to the researchers, the findings underscore the importance of understanding not only whether abuse occurred, but also when it happened. Different stages of brain development may be especially vulnerable to trauma, meaning children and adolescents could require different approaches to treatment and recovery.
"Understanding how and when childhood abuse changes the brain could help healthcare professionals develop more personalised treatments for survivors in the future."
The researchers noted several limitations to the study. Participants recalled their childhood experiences from memory, meaning some details about when or how the abuse occurred may not have been entirely accurate. The study also did not examine whether traumatic experiences later in adulthood may have contributed to the brain changes that were observed.
Despite these limitations, the findings provide new insight into how childhood abuse can leave lasting biological changes that persist into adulthood.
The researchers say future studies should follow children over many years to better understand how trauma affects the developing brain. They also hope to investigate how different brain regions communicate with one another and whether these patterns could help doctors identify people who may benefit from earlier or more targeted treatment.
The findings reinforce the importance of preventing childhood abuse and ensuring that children who experience trauma receive early psychological support. While not everyone who experiences abuse develops a mental health disorder, understanding how trauma affects the brain could help improve care and reduce its long-term impact on emotional well-being.
Child abuse remains a major public health challenge in Kenya and around the world.
In Kenya, around one in two young adults experienced physical, emotional, or sexual violence during childhood, with 46 per cent of young women and 52 per cent of young men reporting at least one form of violence before the age of 18.
Globally, up to one billion children aged 2–17 experience physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect each year.
The long-term consequences are substantial, with the World Health Organisation estimating that around 970 million people worldwide are living with a mental disorder, including anxiety and depression—conditions whose risk is higher among people who experienced childhood abuse.
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