The scars of a bad youth. An examination of the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms linking childhood traumatic experiences to adult psychopathology.

Childhood traumatic experiences, such as abuse or neglect, are the single most important cause of adult psychiatric disorders. Disorders such as depression, psychosis and anxiety disorders moreover emerge earlier in traumatized individuals, with greater severity, more comorbidity and a less favourable response to treatment. Scientific endeavors focusing on this subgroup are therefore urgently required. Adults with a history of childhood trauma show typical alterations that distinguish them from non-exposed individuals when diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. These alterations include a combination of affective, anxious and psychosis symptoms, and alterations in two brain structures important for the assessment of novel information from the environment: the hippocampus and the amygdala. This project investigates how changes in these two brain structures increase the risk for developing psychiatric symptoms during adolescence, a crucial period when important changes occur at the personal, social, psychological and brain level. We hypothesize that changes in the amygdala and hippocampus lead to a diminished capacity to accurately assess the environment, leading to generalization of fear from previous adverse memories to new situations, as well as increased emotional reactions in daily life. If confirmed this would lead to important new insights in the development of psychiatric symptoms during adolescence, and provide us with helpful clues to develop novel treatment options.