Effect of childhood maltreatment on brain structure in adult patients with major depressive disorder and healthy participants.
Chaney, Aisling Carballedo, Angela Amico, Francesco Fagan, Andrew Skokauskas, Norbert Meaney, James Frodl, Thomas
Chaney, Aisling
Carballedo, Angela
Amico, Francesco
Fagan, Andrew
Skokauskas, Norbert
Meaney, James
Frodl, Thomas
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Date
2013-07-30
Date Submitted
Keywords
CHILD HEALTH
PSYCHIATRIC CARE
PSYCHIATRIC CARE
Other Subjects
CHILDHOOD
PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Subject Mesh
Planned Date
Start Date
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Principal Investigators
Alternative Titles
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Abstract
Background: Childhood maltreatment has been found to play a crucial role in the development of psychiatric disorders. However, whether childhood maltreatment is associated with structural brain changes described for major depressive disorder (MDD) is still a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with MDD and a history of childhood maltreatment display more structural changes than patients without childhood maltreatment or healthy controls. Methods: Patients with MDD and healthy controls with and without childhood maltreatment experience were investigated using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and data were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry. Results: We studied 37 patients with MDD and 46 controls. Grey matter volume was significantly decreased in the hippocampus and significantly increased in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in participants who had experienced childhood maltreatment compared with those who had not. Patients displayed smaller left OFC and left DMPFC volumes than controls. No significant difference in hippocampal volume was evident between patients with MDD and healthy controls. In regression analyses, despite effects from depression, age and sex on the DMPFC, OFC and hippocampus, childhood maltreatment was found to independently affect these regions. Limitations: The retrospective assessment of childhood maltreatment; the natural problem that patients experienced more childhood maltreatment than controls; and the restrictions, owing to sample size, to investigating higher order interactions among factors are discussed as limitations. Conclusion: These results suggest that early childhood maltreatment is associated with brain structural changes irrespective of sex, age and a history of depression. Thus, the study highlights the importance of childhood maltreatment when investigating brain structures.
Language
ISSN
1488-2434
eISSN
ISBN
DOI
10.1503/jpn.120208
PMID
23900024