January 07, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

A research article, entitled “Early childhood deprivation is associated with alterations in adult brain structure despite subsequent environmental enrichment”, was first published January 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. It was a joint effort from scientists around the world, including Nuria K. Mackes, Dennis Golm, Sagari Sarkar, Robert Kumsta, Michael Rutter, Graeme Fairchild, Mitul A. Mehta, Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke, and on behalf of the ERA Young Adult Follow-up team.

The study provided compelling evidence that early childhood deprivation was linked to alterations in adult brain structure, despite environmental enrichment in intervening years. The researchers had analyzed 67 adopted children who had spent time in Romanian orphanages. After scanning the brains in comparison, the average size of brains was found 8.6% smaller in the Romanian adoptees. The researchers concluded that an early life full of neglect, deprivation, and adversity would cause children growing up with smaller brains.

Previously other studies on children adopted by families in the UK had showed that they were still going through mental health problems even in adulthood.

One co-author of the research team, Professor Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke from King’s College in London and Aarhus University in Denmark, explained their findings would highlight the importance of assessing young children from deprived backgrounds when providing mental health support and careful planning.

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