Abstract
Previous neuroimaging studies link both alcohol use disorder (AUD) and early adversity to neurobiological differences in the adult brain. However, the association between AUD and childhood adversity and effects on the developing adolescent brain are less clear, due in part to the confound of psychiatric comorbidity. Here we examine early life adversity and its association with brain volume in a unique sample of 116 South African adolescents (aged 12–16) with AUD but without psychiatric comorbidity. Participants were 58 adolescents with DSM-IV alcohol dependence and with no other psychiatric comorbidities, and 58 age-, gender- and protocol-matched light/non-drinking controls (HC). Assessments included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). MR images were acquired on a 3T Siemens Magnetom Allegra scanner. Volumes of global and regional structures were estimated using SPM8 Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM), with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and regression analyses. In whole brain ANCOVA analyses, a main effect of group when examining the AUD effect after covarying out CTQ was observed on brain volume in bilateral superior temporal gyrus. Subsequent regression analyses to examine how childhood trauma scores are linked to brain volumes in the total cohort revealed a negative correlation in the left hippocampus and right precentral gyrus. Furthermore, bilateral (but most significantly left) hippocampal volume was negatively associated with sub-scores on the CTQ in the total cohort. These findings support our view that some alterations found in brain volumes in studies of adolescent AUD may reflect the impact of confounding factors such as psychiatric comorbidity rather than the effects of alcohol per se. In particular, early life adversity may influence the developing adolescent brain in specific brain regions, such as the hippocampus.
Highlights
Childhood adversity poses a serious risk to the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of young people, often prompting other negative behavior such as substance abuse disorders, including long-term alcohol abuse (Dube et al 2006; Fetzner et al 2011; Magnusson et al 2011; Nayak et al 2012; Pilowsky et al 2009; Tucci et al 2010; Widom et al 2013; Wu et al 2010)
In the present voxel-based morphometry study (VBM), we extended our analysis of a cohort of adolescents from the Cape Town area of South Africa, with no other psychiatric comorbidities or other substance abuse, to focus in more detail on the link between childhood adversity, alcohol use disorder (AUD) and structural brain abnormalities
Given that we found significant regressions between brain volumes and total CTQ in the superior temporal gyrus, hippocampus and precentral gyrus we extracted n.s. non significant, ml millilitres, STG superior temporal gyrus, CTQ Childhood Trauma Questionnaire a Estimates based on percentage of MNI aal template b Alcohol life dose was measured in units
Summary
Childhood adversity poses a serious risk to the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of young people, often prompting other negative behavior such as substance abuse disorders, including long-term alcohol abuse (Dube et al 2006; Fetzner et al 2011; Magnusson et al 2011; Nayak et al 2012; Pilowsky et al 2009; Tucci et al 2010; Widom et al 2013; Wu et al 2010). Structural and functional brain differences have been observed in adults and adolescents who consume large quantities of alcohol, in brain regions such as the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, including the hippocampus, as well as frontal lobe deficits (Fein and McGillivray 2007; Fein et al 2009; Pfefferbaum et al 1992; Sullivan et al 1995, 2000, 2010). Metab Brain Dis (2014) 29:311–321 hippocampus, regions which may be susceptible to the effects of alcohol and other substance abuse (Crews et al 2007; Lenroot and Giedd 2006). Our recent voxel-based morphometric (VBM) study of adolescent AUD focused on a group of adolescents with substance use and without psychiatric comorbidities that may impact on the developing brain (e.g. other substance abuse, conduct, oppositional or defiant disorder). We did not examine the impact of childhood adversity on whole brain volumes, which may explain further variance in the developing brain of an adolescent
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