Functional Alterations and Cerebral Variations in Humans Exposed to Early Life Stress
Open accessAbstract
Early life stress can be caused by acute or chronic exposure to childhood events, such as emotional, physical, sexual abuse, and neglect. Early stress is associated with subsequent alterations in physical and mental health, which can extend into adolescence, adulthood, and even old age. The effects of early stress exposure include alterations in cognitive, neuropsychological, and behavioral functions, and can even lead to the development of psychiatric disorders and changes in brain anatomy. The present manuscript provides a review of the main findings on these effects reported in the scientific literature in recent decades. Early life stress is associated with the presence of psychiatric disorders, mainly mood disorders such as depression and risk of suicide, as well as with the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder. At the neuropsychological level, the involvement of different mental processes such as executive functions, abstract reasoning, certain memory modalities, and poor school-skill performance has been reported. In addition, we identified reports of alterations of different subdomains of each of these processes. Regarding neuroanatomical effects, the involvement of cortical regions, subcortical nuclei, and the subcortical white matter has been documented. Among the telencephalic regions most affected and studied are the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the anterior cingulate cortex. Understanding the impact of early life stress on postnatal brain development is very important for the orientation of therapeutic intervention programs and could help in the formulation and implementation of preventive measures as well as in the reorientation of research targets.
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The amygdala often exhibits hyperactivation in chronic emotional abuse, contributing to persistent hypervigilance and exaggerated stress responses.
“The amygdala, central to threat detection and fear processing, often exhibits hyperactivation, contributing to persistent hypervigilance and exaggerated stress responses.”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as González-Acosta et al., 2021
The Amygdala section reports increased right-amygdala activity during emotional-face recognition in children with a history of domestic abuse, and hyperactivation of an amygdala-related circuit in adolescents with a history of verbal abuse. It does not establish that this occurs often in chronic emotional abuse or that the hyperactivation causes persistent hypervigilance and exaggerated stress responses; the reported associations concern specific tasks and depressive symptoms. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTrauma, attachment insecurity, and stress dysregulation both contribute to and result from abusive dynamics.
“Moreover, integrating psychological and neurobiological perspectives highlights how trauma, attachment insecurity, and stress dysregulation both contribute to and result from abusive dynamics (Herman et al., 2016; González-Acosta et al., 2021).”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as González-Acosta et al., 2021
The Introduction describes childhood abuse as a traumatic experience and reports that overexposure to early stress can alter HPA-axis activity, with long-term effects on behavior and cognition. That supports abuse contributing to trauma-related and stress-response changes. The paper does not establish attachment insecurity as part of this relationship or show that trauma and stress dysregulation also contribute to abusive dynamics; its account is not bidirectional. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredChronic emotional abuse results in structural and functional alterations in key brain regions.
“Advances in neuroimaging and neurobiological research provide compelling evidence that chronic emotional abuse results in structural and functional alterations in key brain regions.”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as González-Acosta et al., 2021
The Prefrontal Cortex section reports reduced frontal-gyrus volume in patients exposed to childhood emotional abuse and altered prefrontal activation in people exposed to childhood emotional stress. These findings support structural and functional differences, but the paper describes associations in specific early-life populations; it does not establish that chronic emotional abuse causes them. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe hippocampus may show reduced volume and impaired functioning in chronic emotional abuse, affecting integration of emotional experiences and increasing susceptibility to intrusive memories and maladaptive learning patterns.
“Concurrently, the hippocampus, implicated in memory consolidation and contextual processing, may show reduced volume and impaired functioning, affect the integration of emotional experiences, and increase susceptibility to intrusive memories and maladaptive learning patterns (Teicher et al., 2016; González-Acosta et al., 2021).”
From From use to abuse: psychological, neurobiological, and spiritual pathways in relational harm and recovery (2026) · cites this paper as González-Acosta et al., 2021
The Hippocampus section and Table 4 (pages unavailable) report reduced hippocampal volume after early-life stress and, in women with PTSD following childhood sexual abuse, reduced activity during verbal-memory tasks. Table 4 includes emotional abuse among mixed exposures, but the paper does not establish these findings specifically for chronic emotional abuse. Nor does it link hippocampal changes to impaired integration of emotional experiences, intrusive memories, or maladaptive learning patterns. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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References 159 · Cited by 59
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [9]Felitti VJ. The relation between adverse childhood experiences and adult health: turning gold into lead. Perm J. (2002) 6: 44– 7. 30313011 PMC6220625
- Authors
- González-Acosta, C. A., Rojas-Cerón, C. A., & Buriticá, E.
- Affiliations
- Universidad del Valle (CO)
- Corresponding author
- Buriticá, Efraín
- Venue
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2021-01-20
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 536188-536188
- ISSN
- 2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7856302
- OpenAlex
- W3121182385
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 159
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Greater South Information System
- Funders
- Universidad del Valle
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- early life stress, childhood abuse and neglect, depression, suicide risk, post-traumatic stress disorder, executive function, memory, academic performance, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, neuroanatomical changes, postnatal brain development, mental illness
- MeSH terms
- Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adolescent, Adult, Brain, Child, Hippocampus, Humans, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Prefrontal Cortex
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