Decreased functional connectivity in patients with major depressive disorder and a history of childhood traumatization through experiences of abuse

Abstract

Background: Childhood trauma (CT) increases vulnerability for the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). Alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) have frequently been reported for MDD. These alterations may be much more prominent in depressive patients with a history of CT. The present study aims to compare RSFC in different brain networks of patients with MDD and CT (MDD+CT) vs. MDD and no CT compared to healthy controls.

Methods: 45 patients (22 with CT) were compared to 23 age-and-gender-matched healthy control subjects. Demographic parameters, severity of MDD, severity of CT and comorbid anxiety disorders were assessed. For assessment of RSFC alterations, a seed-based approach within five well-established RSFC networks was used.

Results: CT in MDD patients predicts severity of comorbid anxiety. A significant decrease in in-between network RSFC-values of MDD patients compared to controls was found in the network pairs of default mode network (DMN) - dorsal attention network (DAN), ventral attention network (VAN) - DMN and DAN - affective network (AN). MDD+CT patients presented more aberrant RSFC than MDD-CT patients. MDD scores predicted the decrease in RSFC for MDD patients. Higher Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) scores are linked to reduced functional connectivity (FC) between DMN - DAN.

Conclusions: Our study shows reduced RSFC in MDD patients for DMN - DAN, VAN - DMN, DAN - AN and MDD+CT patients presented more aberrant RSFC so that we suspect CT to be a considerable factor in the etiology of MDD. Through dysregulated neural circuits, CT is likely to contribute to a distinct MDD pathophysiology.

Keywords: Childhood abuse; Childhood trauma; FMRI; Major depression; Neuroimaging; Resting-state functional connectivity.