New study proves that bullying alters brain structure and increases the risk of mental health problems

A new study conducted by a team headed by Erin Burke Quinlan, at King’s College, London has now come up with a new study which reveals yet another shocking side of bullying which has become very common at schools and colleges in the recent times. The study which observed around 600 young people from various countries in Europe analyzed the brain scans and the questionnaires answered by the participants to reach this conclusion

The new study suggests that being prey to regular bullying can cause structural differences in the brains of the adolescents. The participants of the study were members of a long-term project known as IMAGEN and they were assessed in terms of their brain development and mental health using various questionnaires and high resolution scans taken when they were 14 years old and also when they were 19 years old.

The analysis showed that severe bullying was linked to changes in brain volume and levels of anxiety at age 19. Moreover, it also proved that bullying can lead to the decrease of volume of different parts of the brain called the caudate and putamen. Both of these have crucial role to play as Caudate is important in processing memories and putamen is in control of regulating the movements of the person.

With cyber-bullying becoming a very prevalent tendency in the recent years, the study highlights the urgency in dealing tackling the problem of bullying.