Abstract
Studies of childhood abuse and neglect haveimportant lessons for considerations of natureand nurture. While each child has uniquegenetic potentials, both human and animalstudies point to important needs that everychild has, and severe long-term consequencesfor brain function if those needs are not met. The effects of the childhood environment,favorable or unfavorable, interact with all theprocesses of neurodevelopment (neurogenesis,migration, differentiation, apoptosis,arborization, synaptogenesis, synapticsculpting, and myelination). The time coursesof all these neural processes are reviewed herealong with statements of core principles forboth genetic and environmental influences onall of these processes. Evidence is presentedthat development of synaptic pathways tends tobe a ``use it or lose it'' proposition.Abuse studies from the author's laboratory,studies of children in orphanages who lackedemotional contact, and a large number of animaldeprivation and enrichment studies point to theneed for children and young nonhuman mammals tohave both stable emotional attachments with andtouch from primary adult caregivers, andspontaneous interactions with peers. If theseconnections are lacking, brain development bothof caring behavior and cognitive capacities isdamaged in a lasting fashion.These effects of experience on the brainimply that effects of modern technology can bepositive but need to be monitored. Whiletechnology has raised opportunities forchildren to become economically secure andliterate, more recent inadvertent impacts oftechnology have spawned declines in extendedfamilies, family meals, and spontaneous peerinteractions. The latter changes have deprivedmany children of experiences that promotepositive growth of the cognitive and caringpotentials of their developing brains.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altman, J., and Das, G.D., 1964: Autoradiographic examination of the effects of enriched environment on the rate of glial multipication in the adult rat brain, Nature 204, 1161–1165.
Bennett, E.L., Diamond, M.L., Krech, D., and Rosenzweig, M.R., 1964: Chemical and anatomical plasticity of the brain, Science 146, 610–619.
Chugani, H.T., Behen, M.E., Muzik, O., Juhasz, C., Nagy, F., and Chugani, D.C., 2001: Local brain functional activity following early deprivation: A study of post–institutionalized Romanian orphans, Neuroimage 14, 1290–1301.
Coleman, P.D., and Riesen, A.H., 1968: Environmental effects on cortical dendritc fields: I. rearing in the dark, Journal of Anatomy (London) 102, 363–374.
Cummins, R.A., and Livesey, P., 1979: Enrichment–isolation, cortex length, and the rank order effect, Brain Research 178, 88–98.
Darwin, C., 1868: The Variations of Animals and Plants under Domestication, J. Murray, London.
Dennis, W., 1973: Children of the Creche, Appleton–Century–Crofts, New York.
Diamond, M.C., and Hopson, J., 1998: Magic Trees of the Mind: How to Nurture Your Child's Intelligence, Creativity, and Healthy Emotions from Birth Through Adolescence, Dutton, New York.
Diamond, M.C., Krech, D., and Rosenzweig, M.R., 1964: The effects of an enriched environment on the histology of the rat cerebral cortex, Comparative Neurology, 123, 111–119.
Diamond, M.C., Law, F., Rhodes, H., Lindner, B., Rosenzweig, M.R., Krech, D., and Bennett, E.L., 1966: Increases in cortical depth and glia numbers in rats subjected to enriched environments, Comparative Neurology 128, 117–126.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition (DSM IV), 1994, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
Ebinger, P., 1974: A cytoachitectonic volumetric comparison of brains in wild and domestic sheep, Z. Anat. Entwicklungsgesch 144, 267–302.
Gould E., Reeves, A.J., Graziano, M.S.A., and Gross, C.G., 1999: Neurogenesis in the neocortex of adult primates, Science 286, 548–552.
Greenough, W.T., and Volkmar, F.R., 1973: Pattern of dendritic branching in occipital cortex of rats reared in complex environments, Experimential Neurology 40, 491–504.
Greenough, W.T., Volkmar, F.R., and Juraska, J.M., 1973: Effects of rearing complexity on dendritic branching in frontolateral and temporal cortex of the rat, Experimental Neurology 41, 371–378.
Heidenreich, F.W., 1834: Kaspar Hausers verwundung, krankeit und liechenoffnung, Journal der Chirurgie und Augen–Heilkunde 21, 91–123.
Hubel, D.H., and Wiesel, T.N., 1963: Receptive fields of cells in striate cortex of very young, visually inexperienced kittens, Journal of Neurophysiology 26, 994–1002.
Hubel, D.H., and Wiesel, T.N., 1970: The period of susceptibility to the physiological effects of unilateral eye closure in kittens, Journal of Physiology 206, 419–436.
Huttenlocher, P.R., 1979: Synaptic density in human frontal cortex: developmental changes and effects of aging, Brain Research 163, 195–205.
Huttenlocher, P.R., 1994: Synaptogenesis in human cerebral cortex, in G. Dawson, and K.W. Fischer (eds), Human Behavior and the Developing Brain, Guilford, New York, pp. 35–54.
Kuan, C.–Y., Roth, K.A., Flavell, R.A., and Rakic, P., 2000: Mechanisms of programmed cell death in the developing brain, Trends in Neuroscience 23, 291–297.
Lauder, J.M., 1988: Neurotransmitters as morphogens, Progress in Brain Research 73, 365–388.
Meaney, M.J., Aitken, D.H., van Berkal, C., Bhatnagar, S., and Sapolsky, R.M., 1988: Effect of neonatal handling on age–related impairments associated with the hippocampus, Science 239, 766–768.
Money, J., and Annecillo, C., 1976: IQ changes following change of domicile in the syndrome of reversible hyposomatotropinism (psychosocial dwarfism): pilot investigation, Psychoneuroendocrinology 1, 427–429.
O'Connor, C., Rutter, M., English, and Romanian Adoptees study team, 2000: Attachment disorder behavior following early severe deprivation: Extension and longitudinal follow–up, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 39, 703–712.
Perry, B.D., 1988: Placental and blood element neurotransmitter receptor regulation in humans: Potential models for studying neurochemical mechanisms underlying behavioral teratology, Progress in Brain Research 73, 189–206.
Perry, B.D., 1994: Neurobiological sequelae of childhood trauma: Post–traumatic stress disorders in children, in M. Murberg (ed.), Catecholamines in Post–traumatic Stress Disorder: Emerging Concepts, American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC, pp. 253–276.
Perry, B.D., 2001a: The neurodevelopmental impact of violence in childhood, in D. Schetky, and E.P. Benedek (eds), Textbook of Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Press, Inc., Washington, DC, pp. 221–238.
Perry, B.D., 2001b: The neuroarcheology of childhood maltreatment: The neurodevelopmental costs of adverse childhood events, in K. Franey, R. Geffner, and R. Falconer (eds), The Cost of Maltreatment: Who Pays? We All Do, Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute, San Diego, pp. 15–37.
Perry, B.D., and Pollard, R., 1997: Altered brain development following global neglect in early childhood, Proceedings from the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (New Orleans) (abstract).
Perry, B.D., and Pollard, R., 1998: Homeostasis, stress, trauma, and adaptation: A neurodevelopmental view of childhood trauma, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America 7, 33–51.
Plotsky, P.M., and Meaney, M.J., 1993: Early, postnatal experience alters hypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) mRNA, median eminence CRF content and stress–induced release in adult rats, Molecular Brain Research 18, 195–200.
Rakic, P., 1981: Development of visual centers in the primate brain depends upon binocular competition before birth, Science 214, 928–931.
Rakic, P., 1996: Development of cerebral cortex in human and non–human primates, in M. Lewis (rd.), Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Comprehensive Textbook, Williams and Wilkins, New York, pp. 9–30.
Read, J., Perry, B.D., Moskowitz, A., and Connolly, J., 2001: The contribution of early traumatic events to schizophrenia in some patients: A traumagenic neurodevelopmental model, Psychiatry 64, 319–345.
Rehkamper, G., Haase, E., and Frahm, H.D., 1988: Allometric comparison of brain weight and brain structure volumes in different breeds of the domestic pigeon, columbia livia f.d., Brain, Behavior and Evolution 31, 141–149.
Rohrs, M., 1955: Vergleichende untersuchungen an wild–und hauskatzen, Zool. Anz. 155, 53–69.
Rohrs, M., and Ebinger, P., 1978: Die beurteilung von hirngrobenunterschieden zwischen wild–und haustieren, Z. Zool. Syst. Evolut.–forsch 16, 1–14.
Rutledge, L.T., Wright, C., and Duncan, J., 1974: Morphological changes in pyramidal cells of mammalian neocortex associated with increased use, Experimental Neurology 44, 209–228.
Rutter, M., Andersen–Wood, L., Beckett, C., Bredenkamp, D., Castle, J., Grootheus, C., Keppner, J., Keaveny, L., Lord, C., O'Connor, T.G., and English and Romanian Adoptees study team, 1999: Quasi–autistic patterns following severe early global privation, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40, 537–549.
Rutter, M., and English and Romanian Adoptees study team, 1998: Developmental catch–up, and deficit, following adoption after severe global early privation, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 39, 465–476.
Simon, N., 1978: Kaspar Hauser, Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia 8, 209–217.
Spitz, R.A., 1945: Hospitalism: An inquiry into the genesis of psychiatric conditions in early childhood, Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 1, 53–74.
Spitz, R.A., 1946: Hospitalism: A follow–up report on investigation described in Volume I, 1945, Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 2, 113–117.
Strathearn, L., Gray, P.H., O'Callaghan, M.J., and Wood, D.W., submitted: Cognitive neurodevelopment in extremely low birth weight infants: nature vs. nurture revisited.
Uno, H., Tarara, R., Else, J. et. al., 1989: Hippocampal damage associated with prolonged and fatal stress in primates, Journal of Neuroscience 9, 1705–1711.
van Cleve, T.C., 1972: The Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstufen, Immutator Mundi, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 335 pp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perry, B.D. Childhood Experience and the Expression of Genetic Potential: What Childhood Neglect Tells Us About Nature and Nurture. Brain and Mind 3, 79–100 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016557824657
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016557824657