Cure For An Abusive Future Possible

A recent study has found a reason why victims of childhood may themselves become abusive. Luckily, the study also points to a possible remedy. Researchers studied monkey infants from birth into adulthood. They found out that baby monkeys who experienced high amounts of abuse and rejection from their mother in the month after birth, produced less serotonin in their brains. This is a chemical that transmits impulses in the brain. Low levels of serotonin are linked to anxiety, depression, and aggression in monkeys and people.

In the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, Dario Maestripieri, the lead author of the study, said, "The system is affected by early trauma, early experience, and that these long-term changes in the brain might contribute to the occurrence of abusive parenting in adulthood.

He added that if the same changes in brain development also occur in humans, then there could be a potential intervention using drugs. By raising brain serotonin levels, this might lower the chances that an abused child will also become an abusive parent.