Childhood Abuse Changed Genes in Suicide Victims
February 24, 2009 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Health
It doesn’t come as a surprise that childhood abuse has long term effects that show itself way into adulthood. Adults with a history of childhood abuse are known to have higher risks of psychological problems and difficulty responding to stress. But a recent study found that abuse in early childhood can permanently change how certain genes in the brain work, so much, that the risk of suicide is increased.
A Canadian study led by Michael Meaney examined the gene for glucocorticoid receptor – which controls a brain’s response to stress – in 12 suicide victims with a history of abuse, and another 12 who did not suffer abuse as children.
The researchers found that those who have been abused as children produced chemical changes in the brain which reduced the gene’s activity, and in turn resulted in the victim’s abnormally heightened response to stress.
The traumatic childhood experiences changed the gene expression and not the gene itself, so future studies could focus on whether drugs can reverse such effects, adds Meaney.
Read more about study in – Child abuse ‘impacts stress gene’.
The study was e-published at Nature Neuroscience (Epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain associates with childhood abuse. Published online: 22 February 2009)
