Abstract
Exposure to childhood adversities (CA) is associated with subsequent alterations in regional brain grey matter volume (GMV). Prior studies have focused mainly on severe neglect and maltreatment. The aim of this study was to determine in currently healthy adolescents if exposure to more common forms of CA results in reduced GMV. Effects on brain structure were investigated using voxel-based morphometry in a cross-sectional study of youth recruited from a population-based longitudinal cohort. 58 participants (mean age = 18.4) with (n = 27) or without (n = 31) CA exposure measured retrospectively from maternal interview were included in the study. Measures of recent negative life events (RNLE) recorded at 14 and 17 years, current depressive symptoms, gender, participant/parental psychiatric history, current family functioning perception and 5-HTTLPR genotype were covariates in analyses. A multivariate analysis of adversities demonstrated a general association with a widespread distributed neural network consisting of cortical midline, lateral frontal, temporal, limbic, and cerebellar regions. Univariate analyses showed more specific associations between adversity measures and regional GMV: CA specifically demonstrated reduced vermis GMV and past psychiatric history with reduced medial temporal lobe volume. In contrast RNLE aged 14 was associated with increased lateral cerebellar and anterior cingulate GMV. We conclude that exposure to moderate levels of childhood adversities occurring during childhood and early adolescence exerts effects on the developing adolescent brain. Reducing exposure to adverse social environments during early life may optimize typical brain development and reduce subsequent mental health risks in adult life.
Highlights
IntroductionThere are a number of methodological challenges to consider when examining the effects of exposure to an adverse psychosocial environment upon later behavioral and biological outcome indices
It is well established that an adverse psychosocial environment in the childhood years significantly increases the risk for later psychopathology
grey matter volume (GMV) in individuals exposed to childhood adversities (CA) (CA+) compared to non-exposed individuals (CA−)
Summary
There are a number of methodological challenges to consider when examining the effects of exposure to an adverse psychosocial environment upon later behavioral and biological outcome indices. These psychosocial risks are inter-correlated creating difficulty in delineating the specific contribution of particular factors in the etiologies of emerging psychopathologies and in their effects upon intermediate neurobiological correlates such as grey matter volume (GMV) (Rutter, 2012a). Any effects of experiences occurring in childhood and adolescence occur at a time when the brain is undergoing dramatic structural change (Mills et al, 2014), making it difficult to separate effects of adverse psychosocial experiences from effects due to normative development
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