Neurobiological Consequences of Childhood Maltreatment
BIO:
Martin H. Teicher, M.D., Ph.D. has been Director of the Developmental Biopsychiatry Research Program at McLean Hospital since 1988. Dr. Teicher has served an an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Developmental Psychopharmacology Laboratory at the Mailman Research Center since 1990. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, Current Pediatric Reviews, and Current Psychosomatic Medicine. He is member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation, and been part of Harvard University's Brain Development Working Group. He has served on or chaired numerous review committees for the National Institute of Health, published more than 150 articles, and has received numerous honors.
TALK ABSTRACT:
Early severe stress and maltreatment produces a cascade of neurobiological events that have the potential to cause enduring changes in brain development. These changes occur on multiple levels, from neurohumoral to structural and functional. The major structural consequences of early stress include reduced size of the mid-portions of the corpus callosum and attenuated development of frontal, occipital and temporal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. These regions have different windows of vulnerability (sensitive periods) when they are most susceptible to the effects of early stress. The effects of early abuse on hippocampal volume may not manifest until late adolescents/early adulthood, and emergence of major depression may be delayed in many individuals until after puberty. Genetic polymorphisms appear to modulate risk or resilience to the effects of early abuse.
