--- title: Abuse: Being Neglected Harms Brain Development in Kids description: Being neglected in childhood leads to changes in the brain that hinder develop, a new study says. canonical: https://time.com/3683071/neglect-brain-development/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-27T13:41:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:53:13.120Z article:section: Health og:title: Being Neglected Harms Brain Development in Kids og:description: Being neglected in childhood leads to changes in the brain that hinder develop, a new study says. og:url: https://time.com/3683071/neglect-brain-development/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2beb0bbd09825d2c/69877c01428a9e090ecc6cb3/82860610.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 82860610 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Being Neglected Harms Brain Development in Kids twitter:description: Being neglected in childhood leads to changes in the brain that hinder develop, a new study says. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2beb0bbd09825d2c/69877c01428a9e090ecc6cb3/82860610.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Being Neglected Harms Brain Development in Kids by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 27, 2015 1:41 PM UTC  Baby in the road Baby in the roadGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 27, 2015 1:41 PM UTC Childhood neglect leads to harmful changes in the brain, [a new study says](http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2091622). In new research published in the journal _JAMA Pediatrics_, researchers looked at brain differences between Romanian children who were either abandoned and institutionalized, sent to institutions and then to foster families, or were raised in biological families. Kids who were not raised in a family setting had noticeable alterations in the white matter of their brains later on, while the white matter in the brains of the children who were placed with a foster family looked pretty similar to the brains of the children who were raised with their biological families. Researchers were interested in white matter, which is largely made up of nerves, because it plays an important role in connecting brain regions and maintaining networks critical for cognition. Prior research has shown that children raised in institutional environments have limited access to language and cognitive stimulation, which could hinder development. These findings suggest that even if a child were at a risk for poor development due to their living circumstances at an early age, placing them in a new caregiving environment with more support could prevent white matter changes or perhaps even heal them. More studies are needed, but the researchers believe their findings could help public health efforts aimed at children experiencing severe neglect, as well as efforts to build childhood resiliency. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3683071/neglect-brain-development/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3683071/neglect-brain-development/"},"headline":"Being Neglected Harms Brain Development in Kids","datePublished":"2015-01-27T13:41:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:53:13.120Z","description":"Kids put in institutions have different brain compositions than kids in foster care","url":"https://time.com/3683071/neglect-brain-development/","keywords":["Research","Children","Babies","Child abuse","Romania"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2beb0bbd09825d2c/69877c01428a9e090ecc6cb3/82860610.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2beb0bbd09825d2c/69877c01428a9e090ecc6cb3/82860610.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"82860610","caption":"82860610","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3683071/neglect-brain-development/","name":"Being Neglected Harms Brain Development in Kids"}}]}] ```