Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Physical neglect during childhood alters white matter connectivity in healthy young males

Tendolkar, Indira ; Mårtensson, Johan LU ; Kühn, Simone ; Klumpers, Floris and Fernández, Guillén (2018) In Human Brain Mapping 39(3). p.1283-1290
Abstract

Background: Childhood adversity (CA) leads to greater vulnerability for psychopathology by causing structural as well as functional brain abnormalities. Recent findings on gray matter effects point towards the importance of identifying CA outcome as a function of different CA types, varying in the dimensions of threat and deprivation. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we investigate whether different forms of CA impact differently on white matter connectivity in a healthy cohort not confounded by other aspects of disease. Methods: In 120 healthy young males, we assessed different forms of maltreatment during childhood with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) images were generated... (More)

Background: Childhood adversity (CA) leads to greater vulnerability for psychopathology by causing structural as well as functional brain abnormalities. Recent findings on gray matter effects point towards the importance of identifying CA outcome as a function of different CA types, varying in the dimensions of threat and deprivation. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we investigate whether different forms of CA impact differently on white matter connectivity in a healthy cohort not confounded by other aspects of disease. Methods: In 120 healthy young males, we assessed different forms of maltreatment during childhood with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) images were generated and projected onto a white matter skeleton using tract-based spatial statistics. Correlational analysis between FA, MD, and CTQ subscores was then performed using voxelwise statistics. Results: Of all CTQ-subscores, only physical neglect (PN) predicted a decrease of FA but not MD in the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation around the middle frontal gyrus and the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, the cingulum and precuneus. Reduced FA in the posterior cingulum was related to the effects of PN during childhood on anxiety levels at trend level. Conclusions: PN may have severe consequences and should be considered equally important to more active forms of abuse. FA changes, particularly in the cingulum, actually appear to a functional consequence and are linked to trait anxiety, a personality dimension that is suggested to be a transdiagnostic risk factor of affective disorders. Potentially this reveals a mechanistic chain that forms one pathyway from CA to disease.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Childhood adversity, Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), Fractional anisotropy, Healthy controls, Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS)
in
Human Brain Mapping
volume
39
issue
3
pages
1283 - 1290
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:29250891
  • scopus:85038231532
ISSN
1065-9471
DOI
10.1002/hbm.23916
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2e4d172c-42f3-44e8-859e-b51a193ee7b1
date added to LUP
2018-01-12 15:14:48
date last changed
2024-03-18 02:47:11
@article{2e4d172c-42f3-44e8-859e-b51a193ee7b1,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Childhood adversity (CA) leads to greater vulnerability for psychopathology by causing structural as well as functional brain abnormalities. Recent findings on gray matter effects point towards the importance of identifying CA outcome as a function of different CA types, varying in the dimensions of threat and deprivation. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we investigate whether different forms of CA impact differently on white matter connectivity in a healthy cohort not confounded by other aspects of disease. Methods: In 120 healthy young males, we assessed different forms of maltreatment during childhood with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) images were generated and projected onto a white matter skeleton using tract-based spatial statistics. Correlational analysis between FA, MD, and CTQ subscores was then performed using voxelwise statistics. Results: Of all CTQ-subscores, only physical neglect (PN) predicted a decrease of FA but not MD in the bilateral anterior thalamic radiation around the middle frontal gyrus and the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, the cingulum and precuneus. Reduced FA in the posterior cingulum was related to the effects of PN during childhood on anxiety levels at trend level. Conclusions: PN may have severe consequences and should be considered equally important to more active forms of abuse. FA changes, particularly in the cingulum, actually appear to a functional consequence and are linked to trait anxiety, a personality dimension that is suggested to be a transdiagnostic risk factor of affective disorders. Potentially this reveals a mechanistic chain that forms one pathyway from CA to disease.</p>}},
  author       = {{Tendolkar, Indira and Mårtensson, Johan and Kühn, Simone and Klumpers, Floris and Fernández, Guillén}},
  issn         = {{1065-9471}},
  keywords     = {{Childhood adversity; Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); Fractional anisotropy; Healthy controls; Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS)}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{1283--1290}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Human Brain Mapping}},
  title        = {{Physical neglect during childhood alters white matter connectivity in healthy young males}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.23916}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hbm.23916}},
  volume       = {{39}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}