02/02/2026
Chronic, severe childhood stress induces sustained high levels of cortisol, which can damage and reduce the volume of the hippocampus—the brain region responsible for memory encoding. This structural change, often described as part of toxic stress, impairs the ability to form, store, and retrieve memories of traumatic events. While stress can sometimes heighten memory for specific, intense moments, prolonged exposure often leads to fragmented or missing memories.
🗂️How Childhood Cortisol Affects Memory:
📑Hippocampal Damage: High cortisol levels are toxic to the hippocampus, which can lead to reduced neurogenesis (birth of new neurons) and, in some cases, a smaller hippocampal volume.
📑Memory Impairment: Because the hippocampus is crucial for contextualizing memories (connecting the where and when to an event), damage leads to difficulty forming coherent, chronological memories of traumatic events.
📑Brain Plasticity Alteration: During development, chronic stress can alter neural connectivity, prioritizing the amygdala (fear response) over the prefrontal cortex (rational thought) and hippocampus.
📑Dissociative Amnesia: This, alongside other mechanisms, can lead to the mind “blocking out” or failing to encode specific traumatic memories, a form of protection against overwhelming stress.
It is important to also understand that trauma can store in your body, so, even if your brain has “forgotten”, your body likely still remembers. This can trigger a multitude of different chronic symptoms/diseases. If this is you, there is hope for healing and recovery - I will put a few tips in the comment section for you. Trauma is never your fault, but healing is unfortunately your responsibility. Take great care of yourselves sweet friends.❤️❤️🩹
PMID: 17290802
