Publication
Title
Structural and functional brain abnormalities associated with exposure to different childhood trauma subtypes : a systematic review of neuroimaging findings
Author
Abstract
Background: Childhood trauma subtypes sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional maltreatment and neglect may have differential effects on the brain that persist into adulthood. A systematic review of neuroimaging findings supporting these differential effects is as yet lacking. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using the PubMed and PsycINFO databases. Eligible papers were assessed in greater detail and considered relevant if they reported on controlled neuroimaging trials investigating subtype-specific trauma effects. Results: The systematic literature search yielded 25 publications. Sexual abuse was associated with structural deficits in the reward circuit and genitosensory cortex and amygdalar hyperreactivity during sad autobiographic memory recall. Emotional maltreatment correlated with abnormalities in fronto-limbic socioemotional networks. In neglected individuals, white matter integrity and connectivity were disturbed in several brain networks involved in a variety of functions. Other abnormalities, such as reduced frontal cortical volume, were common to all maltreatment types. Conclusions: There is some evidence for differential effects of trauma subtypes. The observed alterations may result from both protective adaptation of and damage to the brain following exposure to threatening life events. Though promising, the current evidence is incomplete, with few brain regions having been investigated in all subtypes. Future neuroimaging studies should take this potentially differential role of childhood trauma subtypes into account.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Frontiers in psychiatry / Frontiers Research Foundation (Lausanne, Switzerland) - Lausanne, 2010, currens
Publication
Lausanne : Frontiers media sa , 2018
ISSN
1664-0640
DOI
10.3389/FPSYT.2018.00329
Volume/pages
9 (2018) , p. 1-17
Article Reference
329
ISI
000440708900001
Pubmed ID
30123142
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
The relationship between growth rate and antiherbivore defences in higher plants.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 24.07.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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