Abstract
Background: To date, many studies have attempted to show a relationship between potentially harmful experiences in childhood and gray matter volume (GMV) in specific brain areas. These studies managed to identify several affected regions, yet most of them neglected the influence of sex or the occurrence of mental health problems. Furthermore, little is known about mechanisms linking childhood adversity (CA) and temperamental traits as plausible endophenotypes of psychopathology.Objective: The present study addresses these two issues by trying to identify sex-specific relationships between CA and brain volumes as well as to show the role of the latter in predicting temperament scores.Method: Forty-eight people (23 women) without anxiety or affective disorders participated in this study. CA was measured using the Childhood Questionnaire (CQ) and temperament was measured with the use of the behavioral inhibition system-behavioral activation system (BIS-BAS) Scales. Whole-brain MR imaging was performed to identify GMV differences.Results: In women, we identified negative relationships between CA and GMV in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), right cerebellum, and right precentral gyrus. In men, we found a negative correlation between CA and GMV in the right fusiform gyrus. We also identified sex-specific relationships between CA and temperament traits.Conclusions: The results of our study suggest a sex-specific pattern in the relationship between early adverse experiences and brain structure. The results can also help explain the role that temperament plays in the relationship between CA and the risk of psychopathology.
Highlights
The concept of childhood adversity (CA) refers to a group of potentially harmful experiences such as emotional, sexual and physical abuse, neglect, parental loss, or illness which occur during childhood
Relationships between Childhood Questionnaire (CQ) score and gray matter volume (GMV) were tested across the entire sample as well as the interaction effect
A significant interaction was found in left inferior parietal lobule/ parietal operculum and right fusiform gyrus
Summary
The concept of childhood adversity (CA) refers to a group of potentially harmful experiences such as emotional, sexual and physical abuse, neglect, parental loss, or illness which occur during childhood. The meta-analysis of Paquola et al (2016) revealed that both the right dlPFC and right postcentral gyrus showed significantly more reduction in cohorts with more females These findings suggest that negative environmental conditions such as CA may have different sex-related neuronal consequences. Many studies have attempted to show a relationship between potentially harmful experiences in childhood and gray matter volume (GMV) in specific brain areas. These studies managed to identify several affected regions, yet most of them neglected the influence of sex or the occurrence of mental health problems. Little is known about mechanisms linking childhood adversity (CA) and temperamental traits as plausible endophenotypes of psychopathology
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