It is well documented that traumatic experiences can have lasting effects on a child’s brain development. A recent study goes further to say that institutional neglect can cause changes in the structure of white matter of a child’s brain but early intervention can reverse the damage.

The study, led by Johanna Bick, PhD, of Boston’s Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts, was published in JAMA Pediatrics and is known as the ‘Bucharest Early Intervention Project’.

The study began in 2000. Researchers randomly chose 136 abandoned babies who had already spent half of their lives in institutional care. Half of these babies were transferred to foster care. At the time, Romania did not have a foster care system in place. A program was designed specifically for the children in this study. In addition, a group of children of similar ages who had never been institutionalized and were being raised by their biological parents were selected for the study.

The children were given a developmental assessment at the onset of the study. Follow up assessments were given when the child was aged 30 months, 42 months, 54 months, 8 years, and 12 years.

Researchers found that there were noticeable structural differences in certain areas of the white matter of the children’s brains. In particular, there were variances in the corpus callosum, which facilitates communication between the two hemispheres of the brain- an essential function for language processing. Other areas affected were parts of the limbic circuitry, and in the sensory processing areas. These changes may be related to the development of attention defect disorders and impaired decision-making.

Children raised in institutional care had an average IQ of 70.

Romanian institutions have far more babies than caregivers. Children spend most of the day confined to their cribs, with little linguistic stimulation or human interaction.

On a brighter note, the children who were transferred from the institutions to foster care had white matter that was very similar to those who were raised by their natural parents. This suggests that the damage done in the early stages of brain development can be reversed if caught in time.

In recent years, Romania has banned children under the age of three from being institutionalized. Babies are to be raised in group homes and only transferred to institutions when they become of legal age.