Enduring effect of abuse: Childhood maltreatment links to altered theory of mind network among adults

Abstract

Childhood maltreatment (CM) confers a great risk of maladaptive development outcomes later in life, however, the neurobiological mechanism underlying this vulnerability is still unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the long-term consequences of CM on neural connectivity while controlling for psychiatric conditions, medication, and, substance abuse. A sample including adults with (n = 40) and without CM (n = 50) completed Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), personality questionnaires, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan were recruited for the current study. The whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) was evaluated using an unbiased, data-driven, multivariate pattern analysis method. Relative to controls, adults with CM suffered a higher level of temperament and impulsivity and showed decreased FC between the insula and superior temporal gyrus (STG) and between inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and middle frontal gyrus, STG, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), while increased FC between IPL and cuneus and superior frontal gyrus (SFG) regions. The FCs of IPL with dACC and SFG were correlated with the anxious and cyclothymic temperament and attentional impulsivity.Moreover, these FCs partially mediated the relationship between CM and attentional impulsivity. Our results suggest that CM has a significant effect on the modulation of FC within theory of mind (ToM) network even decades later in adulthood, and inform

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The functional connectivity of the middle frontal cortex predicts ketamine’s outcome in major depressive disorder

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Prediction of childhood maltreatment and subtypes with personalized functional connectome of large‐scale brain networks

“…The 5‐Likert scale was used for responses ranging from 1 (never correct) to five (usually correct). The five sub‐scales have their specific question items, using the previously mentioned five‐level evaluation indicators, and the score of each subscale is between 5 and 25 points (Pang, Zhao, et al, 2022). When the subscale score exceeds a certain threshold value (emotional abuse ≥13, emotional neglect ≥15, sexual abuse ≥8, physical abuse ≥10, physical neglect ≥10), childhood trauma is considered moderate to severe (Bernstein et al, 1994).…”

“…Previous studies reported that CM was associated with abnormal functional connectivity (FC) within salience network (SN) and between the default mode network and SN (Marusak et al, 2015). Individuals with CM showed increased FC within theory of mind network which was associated with the severity and type of abuse (Pang, Zhao, et al, 2022; Pruessner et al, 2019; Stanton et al, 2020). Furthermore, adults with CM showed increased amygdala connectivity with the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex during emotion processing (Jedd et al 2015).…”