Does new research on PTSD in kids give us hope?
For the past few weeks, I have been scanning the news for emerging research about violence and trauma. In the process, I keep running across the following report of a study done at Stanford University - http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14007056?nclick_check=1 . Dr. Victor Carrion and his fellow researchers looked at children who had symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder using a technique called functional MRI. This technique seemed to show that compared to children without posttraumatic stress, the affected children had less activity in an area of the brain called the hippocampus. This is important because the hippocampus is involved in learning. The conclusion of the study is that children who have suffered trauma and who have PTSD may not learn as well as other children. They also found that the more severe the childrens’ symptoms of avoidance and numbing, the lower their level of activity in the hippocampus.
So, is it news that children who are exposed to trauma have more trouble learning? Probably not. But this is just another in a long series of studies that show that early childhood adversity and trauma are harmful to children in very specific ways.
From my perspective, these studies can be helpful on one hand and terribly destructive on another. If we conclude from these studies that in order to help kids learn we should work to protect children from trauma, nurture them in schools, make sure they grow up in safe neighborhoods and train their parents how to raise them most effectively, then these kinds of studies can build momentum for us to do what we should do. Unfortunately some will take these results and run with them and come to the conclusion that poor urban children of color should be carried off to the garbage heap as damaged and dangerous little people. You think I exaggerate? Well think again, because I've heard these kinds of comments more times than I care to recall.
Fortunately there is good evidence that the damaging effects of chronic stress and trauma can be healed. In the New York Times several months ago - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18angier.html?_r=1&scp=13&sq=mcewen&st=cse - neuroscientist Bruce McEwen makes the point very well. He says “The brain is a very resilient and plastic organ. Dendrites and synapses retract and reform, and reversible remodeling can occur throughout life.” He should know since he has been a leader for years on the effects of chronic stress on the body.
My own experience as a physician, and my work with young people who have been victimized tells me the same thing: the brain can heal. But we have to fight to create the kinds of nurturing environments that allow it to do so.
More to come.