It seems that exposure to physical abuse or domestic violence affects brain patterns in children according to Dawn.com. In fact, children exposed to domestic violence situations show similar brain patterns to soldiers that have been in combat situations reports the website.

Dawn.com has reported on a study in the science journal, Current Biology. In this study children were shown pictures of angry faces and as a result two areas of the brain, the anterior insula and the amygdala, showed heightened activity. These same areas of the brain were activated in studies of brain scanned soldiers who had been in combat.

43 children were used in the study, 20 of whom were known to have been exposed to violence. The children were shown male and female faces showing, sad, calm, and angry expressions. The children that were exposed to violence showed a reaction to the angry faces. According to the researchers this suggests that abused children and soldiers had developed to become “hyper-aware” of danger as a defense mechanism.

Eamon McCrory of Britain’s University College London who led the study also links the responses as an underlying neurobiological risk factor that increases a child’s susceptibility to later mental illness like depression.

This troubling picture highlights the name of this blog even more poignantly. The children who are exposed to domestic violence in the home are not only making memories but having their minds effected by the violence they witness and/or experience. How crucial it must be to remove them from such situations before the damage is irreparable.

Stephen Lehrisson