childhood abuse produces kids with a smaller PFC, with less gray matter and with changes in circuitry: less communication among different subregions of the PFC, less coupling between the vmPFC and the amygdala (and the bigger the effect, the more prone the child is to anxiety). Synapses in the brain are less excitable; there are changes in the numbers of receptors for various neurotransmitters and changes in gene expression and patterns of epigenetic marking of genes—along with impaired executive function and impulse control in the child.
