Timing of Childhood Trauma Rewires Brain–Immune Fear Circuits

A 128-participant fMRI study from Guangzhou University links the type and timing of childhood maltreatment to lasting neuro-immune changes: early childhood abuse (ages 1–11) modulates amygdala–IL-8 coupling during fear learning, late adolescence neglect (ages 12–18) reshapes vmPFC–IL-8 connections, and early neglect alters amygdala–vmPFC and hippocampus–vmPFC connectivity with IL-17; the findings support a maturation-matched vulnerability and point to therapies that target both fear circuits and systemic inflammation.