Childhood Adversity Linked to Neurological Circuitry Changes and Mental Health Disorders. Narrative Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.608Keywords:
Childhood adversity, neglect, neuroimaging, functional connectivity, fMRI, psychiatryAbstract
Children who experience adversity have increased risk for psychiatric disorders. However, little is known about the exact alterations that occur in the neural circuitry and how that information may help lead to early diagnosis or preventive medicine. Research has shown that there are specific changes in neurological functional connectivity in the brain associated with childhood adversity. This review will examine recent papers that have investigated the correlation between these changes in brain connectivity and specific psychiatric disorders. Understanding the changes may help with preventive medicine by ensuring clinicians monitor patients with more severe history of adversity who are therefore at higher risk for developing a psychiatric disorder. This paper will also address potential recommendations that could be implemented in the future as research offers more conclusive evidence. Research is now beginning to address the questions of whether these changes can be attenuated, either during childhood or as adults.
Metrics
References
Ujhelyi Nagy A, Kuritár Szabó I, Hann E, Kósa K. Measuring the Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences by Survey Research Methods. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019 Jan;16(6):1048.
Soares ALG, Howe LD, Matijasevich A, Wehrmeister FC, Menezes AMB, Gonçalves H. Adverse childhood experiences: Prevalence and related factors in adolescents of a Brazilian birth cohort. Child Abuse Negl. 2016 Jan;51:21–30.
Maunder RG, Peladeau N, Savage D, Lancee WJ. The prevalence of childhood adversity among healthcare workers and its relationship to adult life events, distress and impairment. Child Abuse Negl. 2010 Feb;34(2):114–23.
Merrick MT, Ford DC, Ports KA, Guinn AS. Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences From the 2011-2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 23 States. JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Nov;172(11):1038–44.
Bürgin D, Boonmann C, Schmid M, Tripp P, O’Donovan A. Fact or artefact? Childhood adversity and adulthood trauma in the U.S. population-based Health and Retirement Study. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2020 Feb 14;11(1).
Merikangas KR, He J, Burstein M, Swanson SA, Avenevoli S, Cui L, et al. Lifetime Prevalence of Mental Disorders in US Adolescents: Results from the National Comorbidity Study-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010 Oct;49(10):980–9.
Norman RE, Byambaa M, De R, Butchart A, Scott J, Vos T. The Long-Term Health Consequences of Child Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Neglect: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS Med. 2012 Nov 27;9(11).
Widom CS, DuMont K, Czaja SJ. A prospective investigation of major depressive disorder and comorbidity in abused and neglected children grown up. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007 Jan;64(1):49–56.
Felitti VJ, Anda RF, Nordenberg D, Williamson DF, Spitz AM, Edwards V, et al. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. Am J Prev Med. 1998 May;14(4):245–58.
Hart H, Rubia K. Neuroimaging of child abuse: a critical review. Front Hum Neurosci. 2012;6:52.
Calem M, Bromis K, McGuire P, Morgan C, Kempton MJ. Meta-analysis of associations between childhood adversity and hippocampus and amygdala volume in non-clinical and general population samples. Neuroimage Clin. 2017;14:471–9.
Hein TC, Monk CS. Research Review: Neural response to threat in children, adolescents, and adults after child maltreatment - a quantitative meta-analysis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2017;58(3):222–30.
Huffhines L, Noser A, Patton SR. The Link Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Diabetes. Curr Diab Rep. 2016 Jun;16(6):54.
Anderson EL, Fraser A, Caleyachetty R, Hardy R, Lawlor DA, Howe LD. Associations of adversity in childhood and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in mid-adulthood. Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Feb;76:138–48.
Traub F, Boynton-Jarrett R. Modifiable Resilience Factors to Childhood Adversity for Clinical Pediatric Practice. Pediatrics. 2017 May 1;139(5).
Dienes KA, Hammen C, Henry RM, Cohen AN, Daley SE. The stress sensitization hypothesis: understanding the course of bipolar disorder. J Affect Disord. 2006 Oct;95(1–3):43–9.
Bernstein DP, Ahluvalia T, Pogge D, Handelsman L. Validity of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in an Adolescent Psychiatric Population. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 1997 Mar 1;36(3):340–8.
Cohen RA, Hitsman BL, Paul RH, McCaffery J, Stroud L, Sweet L, et al. Early Life Stress and Adult Emotional Experience: An International Perspective. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2006 Mar 1;36(1):35–52.
Williamson DE, Birmaher B, Ryan ND, Shiffrin TP, Lusky JA, Protopapa J, et al. The Stressful Life Events Schedule for children and adolescents: development and validation. Psychiatry Research. 2003 Aug 1;119(3):225–41.
Taylor SE, Eisenberger NI, Saxbe D, Lehman BJ, Lieberman MD. Neural Responses to Emotional Stimuli Are Associated with Childhood Family Stress. Biological Psychiatry. 2006 Aug 1;60(3):296–301.
Teicher MH, Samson JA, Polcari A, McGreenery CE. Sticks, Stones, and Hurtful Words: Relative Effects of Various Forms of Childhood Maltreatment. Am J Psychiatry. 2006;8.
Angold A, Prendergast M, Cox A, Harrington R, Simonoff E, Rutter M. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA). Psychological Medicine. 1995 Jul;25(4):739–53.
Holbrook, H., O’Loughlin, K., Althoff, R., Douglas-Palumberi, H., Kaufman, J., & Hudziak, J. The Yale-Vermont adversity in childhood scale: A quantitative approach to adversity assessment. Paper Presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's 61st Annual Meeting. 2015.
Feldman HM, Yeatman JD, Lee ES, Barde LHF, Gaman-Bean S. Diffusion tensor imaging: a review for pediatric researchers and clinicians. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2010 May;31(4):346–56.
Chen K, Azeez A, Chen DY, Biswal BB. Resting-State Functional Connectivity: Signal Origins and Analytic Methods. Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2020 Feb;30(1):15–23.
Song S-K, Sun S-W, Ramsbottom MJ, Chang C, Russell J, Cross AH. Dysmyelination Revealed through MRI as Increased Radial (but Unchanged Axial) Diffusion of Water. NeuroImage. 2002 Nov 1;17(3):1429–36.
Duarte JA, de Araújo E Silva JQ, Goldani AA, Massuda R, Gama CS. Neurobiological underpinnings of bipolar disorder focusing on findings of diffusion tensor imaging: a systematic review. Braz J Psychiatry. 2016 Mar 22;38(2):167–75.
Choi J, Jeong B, Rohan ML, Polcari AM, Teicher MH. Preliminary evidence for white matter tract abnormalities in young adults exposed to parental verbal abuse. Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Feb 1;65(3):227–34.
Choi J, Jeong B, Polcari A, Rohan ML, Teicher MH. Reduced fractional anisotropy in the visual limbic pathway of young adults witnessing domestic violence in childhood. Neuroimage. 2012 Jan 16;59(2):1071–9.
Huang H, Gundapuneedi T, Rao U. White Matter Disruptions in Adolescents Exposed to Childhood Maltreatment and Vulnerability to Psychopathology. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012 Nov;37(12):2693–701.
Benedetti F, Bollettini I, Radaelli D, Poletti S, Locatelli C, Falini A, et al. Adverse childhood experiences influence white matter microstructure in patients with bipolar disorder. Psychol Med. 2014 Oct;44(14):3069–82.
Poletti S, Aggio V, Brioschi S, Bollettini I, Falini A, Colombo C, et al. Impact of early and recent stress on white matter microstructure in major depressive disorder. J Affect Disord. 2018 01;225:289–97.
Graziano RC, Bruce SE, Paul RH, Korgaonkar MS, Williams LM. The effects of bullying in depression on white matter integrity. Behav Brain Res. 2019 02;363:149–54.
Poletti S, Mazza E, Bollettini I, Locatelli C, Cavallaro R, Smeraldi E, et al. Adverse childhood experiences influence white matter microstructure in patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 2015 Oct 30;234(1):35–43.
Kim MJ, Elliott ML, d’Arbeloff TC, Knodt AR, Radtke SR, Brigidi BD, et al. Microstructural integrity of white matter moderates an association between childhood adversity and adult trait anger. Aggress Behav. 2019;45(3):310–8.
Smitha KA, Akhil Raja K, Arun KM, Rajesh PG, Thomas B, Kapilamoorthy TR, et al. Resting state fMRI: A review on methods in resting state connectivity analysis and resting state networks. Neuroradiol J. 2017 Aug;30(4):305–17.
Vai B, Sforzini L, Visintini R, Riberto M, Bulgarelli C, Ghiglino D, et al. Corticolimbic Connectivity Mediates the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Symptom Severity in Borderline Personality Disorder. Neuropsychobiology. 2017;76(2):105–15.
Barch D, Pagliaccio D, Belden A, Harms MP, Gaffrey M, Sylvester C, et al. Hippocampal and Amygdala Connectivity Mediate The Relationship Between Preschool Poverty and School Aged Depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2016 Jun 1;173(6):625–34.
Hanford LC, Eckstrand K, Manelis A, Hafeman DM, Merranko J, Ladouceur CD, et al. The impact of familial risk and early life adversity on emotion and reward processing networks in youth at-risk for bipolar disorder. PLoS ONE. 2019;14(12):e0226135.
Zielinski MJ, Privratsky AA, Smitherman S, Kilts CD, Herringa RJ, Cisler JM. Does development moderate the effect of early life assaultive violence on resting-state networks? An exploratory study. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2018 30;281:69–77.
Kim MJ, Scult MA, Knodt AR, Radtke SR, d’Arbeloff TC, Brigidi BD, et al. A Link Between Childhood Adversity and Trait Anger Reflects Relative Activity of the Amygdala and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2018;3(7):644–9.
Hanson JL, Knodt AR, Brigidi BD, Hariri AR. Heightened connectivity between the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex as a biomarker for stress-related psychopathology: understanding interactive effects of early and more recent stress. Psychol Med. 2018;48(11):1835–43.
Barch DM, Belden AC, Tillman R, Whalen D, Luby JL. Early Childhood Adverse Experiences, Inferior Frontal Gyrus Connectivity, and the Trajectory of Externalizing Psychopathology. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018;57(3):183–90.
Peverill M, Sheridan MA, Busso DS, McLaughlin KA. Atypical Prefrontal-Amygdala Circuitry Following Childhood Exposure to Abuse: Links With Adolescent Psychopathology. Child Maltreat. 2019;24(4):411–23.
Cox SR, Ritchie SJ, Tucker-Drob EM, Liewald DC, Hagenaars SP, Davies G, et al. Ageing and brain white matter structure in 3,513 UK Biobank participants. Nature Communications. 2016 Dec 15;7(1):13629.
Teicher MH, Samson JA. Annual Research Review: Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2016 Mar;57(3):241–66.
Fang X, Brown DS, Florence CS, Mercy JA. The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention. Child Abuse Negl. 2012 Feb;36(2):156–65.
Wymbs NF, Orr C, Albaugh MD, Althoff RR, O’Loughlin K, Holbrook H, et al. Social supports moderate the effects of child adversity on neural correlates of threat processing. Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Apr;102:104413.
Published
How to Cite
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site; with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from the Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Enforcement of copyright
The IJMS takes the protection of copyright very seriously.
If the IJMS discovers that you have used its copyright materials in contravention of the license above, the IJMS may bring legal proceedings against you seeking reparation and an injunction to stop you using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.
If you become aware of any use of the IJMS' copyright materials that contravenes or may contravene the license above, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org
Infringing material
If you become aware of any material on the website that you believe infringes your or any other person's copyright, please report this by email to contact@ijms.org
