Distinct gray matter abnormalities in children/adolescents and adults with history of childhood maltreatment

Lei Li; Jing Jiang; Baolin Wu; Jinping Lin; Neil Roberts; John A Sweeney; Qiyong Gong; Zhiyun Jia

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105376

Distinct gray matter abnormalities in children/adolescents and adults with history of childhood maltreatment

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Oct:153:105376. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105376. Epub 2023 Aug 27.

Authors

Lei Li¹, Jing Jiang², Baolin Wu¹, Jinping Lin³, Neil Roberts⁴, John A Sweeney⁵, Qiyong Gong⁶, Zhiyun Jia⁷

Affiliations

¹ Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China; Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China.
² Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, China.
³ Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China.
⁴ The Queens Medical Research Institute (QMRI), School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
⁵ Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45219, USA.
⁶ Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Departments of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China; Department of Radiology, West China Xiamen Hospital of Sichuan University, Xiamen, Fujian, China. Electronic address: qiyonggong@hmrrc.org.cn.
⁷ Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; Department of Nuclear Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: jzygood@scu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37643682
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105376

Abstract

Gray matter (GM) abnormalities have been reported in both adults and children/adolescents with histories of childhood maltreatment (CM). A comparison of effects in youth and adulthood may be informative regarding life-span effects of CM. Voxel-wise meta-analyses of whole-brain voxel-based morphometry studies were conducted in all datasets and age-based subgroups respectively, followed by a quantitative comparison of the subgroups. Thirty VBM studies (31 datasets) were included. The pooled meta-analysis revealed increased GM in left supplementary motor area, and reduced GM in bilateral cingulate/paracingulate gyri, left occipital lobe, and right middle frontal gyrus in maltreated individuals compared to the controls. Maltreatment-exposed youth showed less GM in the cerebellum, and greater GM in bilateral middle cingulate/paracingulate gyri and bilateral visual cortex than maltreated adults. Opposite GM alterations in bilateral middle cingulate/paracingulate gyri were found in maltreatment-exposed adults (decreased) and children/adolescents (increased). Our findings demonstrate different patterns of GM changes in youth closer to maltreatment events than those seen later in life, suggesting detrimental effects of CM on the developmental trajectory of brain structure.

Keywords: Anisotropic Effect Size Signed Differential Mapping (AES-SDM); Childhood maltreatment; Gray matter; Meta-analysis; Psychoradiology; Voxel-based morphometry.

Publication types

Review