Biological memory of childhood maltreatment - current knowledge and recommendations for future research

Abstract

Child maltreatment (CM) leads to detrimental and lifelong psychological and physiological alterations - building a biological memory of CM, which might even be transmitted to the next generation. After summarizing current knowledge of such biological consequences of CM (e.g. on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, on telomere length and telomerase activity, and the immune system), this article hints at important questions that have to be answered in this research area. Therefore, we propose that different research fields should join forces to gain a deeper understanding of the multiple effects of CM and especially on its transmission.