Neurobiological Brain Structure and Function Flashcards
What are structural changes?
Changes in how the brain is structured, such as the volume/size of different brain regions or the number of connections between regions
- Most about size
What are functional changes?
Changes in how the brain functions to complete tasks; we can look at patterns of activation and measures of efficiency
- Is it doing its job in the right and best way
What is the amygdala for?
Emotion processing and anxiety
- relate to the capacities of a child to deal with their emotions such as anxiety and depression
What is the hippocampus for?
Learning and memory
What is the prefrontal cortex for?
Executive Functions and ADHD
What are three facts about the amygdala?
- Located deep in the temporal lobe
- part of the limbic system
- rapid development within the first few years of life, especially sensitive if children are exposed to stress
What is the critical role of the amygdala?
Processing emotional information
- perceiving emotion in faces
- evaluating threatening information
- fear conditioning
What can maltreatment cause in regards to the amygdala?
- deficits in emotion processing
- higher internalizing problems
- perceptual biases for threatening information
How does maltreatment affect amygdala structure?
- Not much evidence for abuse and neglect with biological parents causing changes to amygdala volume,
-However, there is evidence that institutional care causes significant changes to the amygdala (extreme deprivation)
What is found in children from orphanages after 15 months old in regards to their amygdala?
Larger Amygdala Volume
- Highest for late adopted children
- Children adopted earlier seem to be “protected” from this damage
Do children in orphanages recover from early adversity in middle childhood (amygdala)?
Effects were still evident in middle childhood suggesting that there may be a failure to recover
What is the link between institutional care and the amygdala?
The longer you spend in an institution the larger the amygdala
How does maltreatment affect amygdala function?
-Previously institutionalized children show heightened amygdala activity to fearful compared to neutral faces
-Similar to adult-like pattern of responses
-May reflect precocial development
-Greater amygdala activation to fearful faces is associated with poorer social competence and less eye contact
How do abused children process emotional faces?
Enhanced attention to negative faces
What is the hippocampus sensitive to?
child stress due to prolonged development
High density of glucocorticoid receptors
What does the hippocampus have a critical role in?
-Memory and learning
-Emotion processing (along with amygdala)
-Modulating HPA axis response to stress
What do maltreated children show in regards to their hippocampus
Deficits in short-term and long-term memory functioning
How does maltreatment affect the hippocampus structure?
- In general, not much evidence for hippocampal volume differences in children who experience maltreatment or institutional care vs. typical children
-Exception: Children with maltreatment-related PTSD show larger hippocampal volume, with positive associations to the level of psychopathology
- Studies consistently find decreased volume of the hippocampus in adults who experienced childhood maltreatment vs. those who did not
How does maltreatment affect the hippocampus function
Reduced activation in memory/learning tasks
What is the prefrontal cortex sensitive to?
early experience
What is the critical role of the prefrontal cortex?
Planning, memory, inhibitory control, controlling attention
What do maltreated children show in regards to their prefrontal cortex?
Higher rates of ADHD
Poorer executive functioning
How does maltreatment affect the structure of the prefrontal cortex?
Some evidence of smaller volumes in sub-regions of the prefrontal cortex in childhood and adulthood
- Evidence is mixed as some studies show no difference in volume, or a larger volume
How does maltreatment affect the function of the prefrontal cortex?
Maltreated children show patterns of neural activation during executive function tasks that look similar to children with ADHD
Does institutional care reduce alpha power?
- There is lower alpha power/higher theta power seen in institutionalized children
What are the implications of brain changes for well-being?
Ability to do well in school/job
-Attention, memory, cognitive ability, executive functioning skills
Ability to respond adaptively in social situations
-Accurately interpreting emotional cues, inhibiting automatic responses, integrating information to respond appropriately
What are the implications of brain changes for parenting?
-Effects on executive function (Info-processing model)
-Effects on social relationships
-Effects on well-being more generally
Ability to maintain a job, manage schedule
Psychopathology (e.g., anxiety, depression)
Ability to manage stress
Are changes permanent?
Interventions can help prevent or even reverse some of these effects of early adversity on biological regulation and the brain
