NEURAL BASES AND EPIGENETIC VARIATIONS OF MATERNAL ABUSE DUE TO NEGLIGENCE
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Abstract
Maternal negligence is a kind of child abuse that is more frequent than sexual and physical abuse. Various researchers have determined risk factors more closely associated to this problem: parent´s history, for instance, antisocial and criminal behavior; having been subjected to physical or having been diagnosed with psychiatric problems, or having suffered abuse or neglect during childhood. In this sense, child maltreatment becomes a transgenerational phenomenon. Brain dysfunctions may also be present, since suffering child abuse also involves emotional, cognitive, neuroendocrine, and behavioral alterations, as well as adverse effects in brain development.
The objective of this article is to describe the various findings regarding psychologic, neurologic, and epigenetic profiles of mothers exhibiting negligent behaviors compared to mothers of the same age, sociocultural, and economic status who do not exhibit these behaviors.
Through the use of various techniques, such as event related potentials, structural and functional magnetic resonance, and genetic analyses it has been found that negligent mothers present a deficit of response toward emotional stimuli, especially in the context of social interaction, and how they respond to children's cries. Similarly, changes of gray and white matter have been identified; which are correlated to psychological measurements such anhedonia.
Finally, epigenetic changes related to negligent behavior have also been registered in candidate genes related to how they react to stress, such NR3C1, FKBP5, AND SLC6A4.
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