# How to Ease Childhood Psychological Trauma Without Visiting a Doctor

Physical activity can mitigate the consequences of childhood psychological trauma by rewiring connections between key brain centers responsible for emotions and stress. This discovery was made by researchers from Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg. The results of their work were published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

Violence, emotional neglect, and other severe childhood adversities can all leave a deep imprint on brain function for many years. People who have experienced such events are significantly more likely to develop mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder.

The study involved 75 adults who had experienced traumatic events before the age of 18. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the scientists examined in detail the interactions among three brain regions responsible for regulating emotions and stress responses: the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the anterior cingulate cortex.

The pattern they discovered proved highly revealing. In participants with low levels of physical activity, childhood trauma was associated with weakened neural connections between the brain's emotional centers. However, in those who exercised regularly, the picture was the exact opposite — the connections between these brain regions were significantly stronger.

The most striking changes were recorded in the interaction between the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala — structures that play a central role in emotional control and stress response. In effect, physical activity altered the very nature of the relationship between traumatic experience and the functioning of these neural networks.

"The consequences of psychological trauma are not necessarily permanent. Regular physical exercise can rewire the brain's neural connections and enhance a person's resilience to stress. The most pronounced effect was observed in people who engaged in physical activity for 150 to 390 minutes per week," the scientists concluded.