Altered white matter connectivity in young people exposed to childhood abuse: a tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and tractography study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Altered white matter connectivity in young people exposed to childhood abuse

T2 - a tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and tractography study

AU - Lim, Lena

AU - Hart, Heledd

AU - Howells, Henrietta

AU - Mehta, Mitul A.

AU - Simmons, Andrew

AU - Mirza, Kah

AU - Rubia, Katya

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Background: Childhood abuse is associated with structural brain abnormalities. Few studies have investigated white matter tract abnormalities in medication-naive, drug-free individuals who experienced childhood abuse. We examined the association between childhood abuse and abnormalities in white matter tracts in that population, controlling for psychiatric comorbidities. Methods: We collected diffusion tensor imaging data for age- and sex-matched youth with childhood abuse, psychiatric controls (matched for psychiatric diagnoses) and healthy controls. Tract-specific analysis was conducted using tractography. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to assess group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) at the whole-brain level. Results: We included 20 youth who experienced childhood abuse, 18 psychiatric controls and 25 healthy controls in our analysis. 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. The TBSS analysis showed significantly reduced FA in a left-hemispheric cluster comprising the 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.

AB - Background: Childhood abuse is associated with structural brain abnormalities. Few studies have investigated white matter tract abnormalities in medication-naive, drug-free individuals who experienced childhood abuse. We examined the association between childhood abuse and abnormalities in white matter tracts in that population, controlling for psychiatric comorbidities. Methods: We collected diffusion tensor imaging data for age- and sex-matched youth with childhood abuse, psychiatric controls (matched for psychiatric diagnoses) and healthy controls. Tract-specific analysis was conducted using tractography. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to assess group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) at the whole-brain level. Results: We included 20 youth who experienced childhood abuse, 18 psychiatric controls and 25 healthy controls in our analysis. 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. The TBSS analysis showed significantly reduced FA in a left-hemispheric cluster comprising the 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.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069234975&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1503/jpn.170241

DO - 10.1503/jpn.170241

M3 - Article

C2 - 30964614

AN - SCOPUS:85069234975

SN - 1180-4882

VL - 44

SP - E11-E20

JO - Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN

JF - Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN

IS - 4

ER -