Abstract
Background: Childhood abuse is associated with structural brain abnormalities. Few studies have investigated white matter tract abnormalities in medication-naïve drug-free individuals with childhood abuse or controlled for psychiatric comorbidities. This study examines the association between childhood abuse and abnormalities in white matter tracts metrics in medication-naïve,
drug-free youth, controlling for psychiatric comorbidities.
Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected on 20 age-and gender-matched youth with childhood abuse, 18 psychiatric controls matched for psychiatric diagnoses and 25 healthy controls. Tract-specific analysis was conducted using Tractography. Tract-based spatial statistic
(TBSS) was used to assess group differences in fractional anisotropy at the whole-brain level.
Results: Tractography analysis showed abuse-specific reduced tract volume in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and inferior frontal-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) in the abuse group relative to both healthy and psychiatric controls. Furthermore, abnormalities in the left IFOF were associated with greater abuse severity in the abuse group. TBSS analysis revealed significantly reduced fractional anisotropy in a left-hemispheric cluster comprising ILF, IFOF and corpus callosum splenium in the abuse group relative to healthy and psychiatric controls.
Limitations: It is unclear to what extent pubertal development, malnutrition and prenatal drug exposure may have influenced the findings.
Conclusion: Childhood abuse is associated with altered structure of neural pathways connecting the frontal, temporal and occipital cortices that are known to mediate affect and cognitive control. The abuse-specific deficits in the ILF and IFOF suggest that fibre tracts presumably involved in conveying and processing the adverse abusive experience are specifically compromised in this population.
drug-free youth, controlling for psychiatric comorbidities.
Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected on 20 age-and gender-matched youth with childhood abuse, 18 psychiatric controls matched for psychiatric diagnoses and 25 healthy controls. Tract-specific analysis was conducted using Tractography. Tract-based spatial statistic
(TBSS) was used to assess group differences in fractional anisotropy at the whole-brain level.
Results: Tractography analysis showed abuse-specific reduced tract volume in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and inferior frontal-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) in the abuse group relative to both healthy and psychiatric controls. Furthermore, abnormalities in the left IFOF were associated with greater abuse severity in the abuse group. TBSS analysis revealed significantly reduced fractional anisotropy in a left-hemispheric cluster comprising ILF, IFOF and corpus callosum splenium in the abuse group relative to healthy and psychiatric controls.
Limitations: It is unclear to what extent pubertal development, malnutrition and prenatal drug exposure may have influenced the findings.
Conclusion: Childhood abuse is associated with altered structure of neural pathways connecting the frontal, temporal and occipital cortices that are known to mediate affect and cognitive control. The abuse-specific deficits in the ILF and IFOF suggest that fibre tracts presumably involved in conveying and processing the adverse abusive experience are specifically compromised in this population.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 10 Nov 2018 |
