The effects of childhood maltreatment on cortical thickness and gray matter volume: a coordinate-based meta-analysis

Abstract

Childhood maltreatment has been suggested to have an adverse impact on neurodevelopment, including microstructural brain abnormalities. Existing neuroimaging findings remain inconsistent and heterogeneous. We aim to explore the most prominent and robust cortical thickness (CTh) and gray matter volume (GMV) alterations associated with childhood maltreatment. A systematic search on relevant studies was conducted through September 2022. The whole-brain coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) on CTh and GMV studies were conducted using the seed-based d mapping (SDM) software. Meta-regression analysis was subsequently applied to investigate potential associations between clinical variables and structural changes. A total of 45 studies were eligible for inclusion, including 11 datasets on CTh and 39 datasets on GMV, consisting of 2550 participants exposed to childhood maltreatment and 3739 unexposed comparison subjects. Individuals with childhood maltreatment exhibited overlapped deficits in the median cingulate/paracingulate gyri simultaneously revealed by both CTh and GM studies. Regional cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri and the left middle frontal gyrus, as well as GMV reductions in the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was also identified. No greater regions were found for either CTh or GMV. In addition, several neural morphology changes were associated with the average age of the maltreated individuals. The median cingulate/paracingulate gyri morphology might serve as the most robust neuroimaging feature of childhood maltreatment. The effects of early-life trauma on the human brain predominantly involved in cognitive functions, socio-affective functioning and stress regulation. This current meta-analysis enhanced the understanding of neuropathological changes induced by childhood maltreatment.

Frontal cortical volume deficits as enduring evidence of childhood abuse in community adults with AUD and HIV infection comorbidity

“…In addition, our MRI findings paralleled those of a recent large study reporting smaller orbitofrontal volumes in adults with DSM-IV-TR bipolar-I disorder, schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, and in healthy controls who self-reported experiences of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect ( Begemann et al, 2023 ). Our data also supported recent findings of supplemental motor volume deficits that were associated with childhood maltreatment from a whole-brain coordinate-based meta-analysis of 45 prior studies ( Yang et al, 2023 ). Our study extends brain volumetric findings to cohorts with AUD, HIV, and AUD+HIV comorbidity.…”

Atrophy of bilateral nucleus accumbens in melancholic depression

“…Future research should include data from multiple centers to validate our findings. Finally, although we have included sex, age, education level, and ICV as covariates in our statistical analysis, it is important to note that other factors, such as early trauma and intelligence quotient, may also have an impact on changes in brain structure [59,60]. Therefore, future studies should try to eliminate the potential influence of these factors when assessing the relationship between brain structure and depression.…”

Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on cortical thickness in depression: a systematic review

“…Therefore, reduced CT appears to be related to the reduced efficacy of pharmacological interventions in MDD, and successful treatment appears to reverse atrophy in frontolimbic areas (Motter et al, 2021). Crucially, reduced CT appears to be associated also with early-life traumas and with other affective disorders, including BD and anxiety (Zhu et al, 2022;Yang et al, 2023).…”