Story perspectives

Childhood Abuse Timing Shifts Adult Brain Emotion Centers

7/5/2026

Summary

Story summary

Australian researchers led by Mayuresh Korgaonkar reported that childhood abuse timing alters adult brain emotion processing.
In a fMRI study, abuse before age 13 increased hippocampal activity during 10 ms non-conscious trials, while abuse at 13-18 increased amygdala activity during 500 ms conscious trials.
The patterns appeared across depression, anxiety, PTSD and healthy participants; authors cited retrospective self-reports and missing adult-trauma data as limits, urging longitudinal whole-brain research for personalized treatment.

1 of 1

Story summary

Australian researchers led by Mayuresh Korgaonkar reported that childhood abuse timing alters adult brain emotion processing.
In a fMRI study, abuse before age 13 increased hippocampal activity during 10 ms non-conscious trials, while abuse at 13-18 increased amygdala activity during 500 ms conscious trials.
The patterns appeared across depression, anxiety, PTSD and healthy participants; authors cited retrospective self-reports and missing adult-trauma data as limits, urging longitudinal whole-brain research for personalized treatment.