TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural brain correlates of childhood trauma with replication across two large, independent community-based samples
AU - Madden, Rebecca A.
AU - Atkinson, Kimberley
AU - Shen, Xueyi
AU - Green, Claire
AU - Hillary, Robert F.
AU - Hawkins, Emma
AU - Såge, Emma
AU - Sandu, Anca-Larisa
AU - Waiter, Gordon
AU - McNeil, Christopher
AU - Harris, Mathew
AU - Campbell, Archie
AU - Porteous, David
AU - MacFarlane, Jennifer A.
AU - Murray, Alison D.
AU - Steele, Douglas
AU - Romaniuk, Liana
AU - Lawrie, Stephen M.
AU - McIntosh, Andrew
AU - Whalley, Heather C.
N1 - Funding Information:
GS received core support from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates (CZD/16/6) and the Scottish Funding Council (HR03006) and is currently supported by the Wellcome Trust [216767/Z/19/Z]. This study was also supported and funded by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award ‘Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally’ (STRADL) (Reference 104036/Z/14/Z). AMM is supported by the Wellcome Trust (104036/Z/14/Z, 216767/Z/19/Z, 220857/Z/20/Z, 223165/Z/21/Z) and UKRI MRC (MR/W014386/1). This work is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 847776. RAM is supported by funding from the Wellcome Trust 4-year PhD in Translational Neuroscience – training the next generation of basic neuroscientists to embrace clinical research [108890/Z/15/Z].
Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Introduction Childhood trauma and adversity are common across societies and have strong associations with physical and psychiatric morbidity throughout the life-course. One possible mechanism through which childhood trauma may predispose individuals to poor psychiatric outcomes is via associations with brain structure. This study aimed to elucidate the associations between childhood trauma and brain structure across two large, independent community cohorts. Methods The two samples comprised (i) a subsample of Generation Scotland (n=1,024); and (ii) individuals from UK Biobank (n=27,202). This comprised n=28,226 for mega-analysis. MRI scans were processed using Free Surfer, providing cortical, subcortical, and global brain metrics. Regression models were used to determine associations between childhood trauma measures and brain metrics and psychiatric phenotypes. Results Childhood trauma associated with lifetime depression across cohorts (OR 1.06 GS, 1.23 UKB), and related to early onset and recurrent course within both samples. There was evidence for associations between childhood trauma and structural brain metrics. This included reduced global brain volume, and reduced cortical surface area with highest effects in the frontal (β=-0.0385, SE=0.0048, p(FDR)=5.43x10-15) and parietal lobes (β=-0.0387, SE=0.005, p(FDR)=1.56x10-14). At a regional level the ventral diencephalon (VDc) displayed significant associations with childhood trauma measures across both cohorts and at mega-analysis (β=-0.0232, SE=0.0039, p(FDR)=2.91x10-8). There were also associations with reduced hippocampus, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens volumes. Discussion Associations between childhood trauma and reduced global and regional brain volumes were found, across two independent UK cohorts, and at mega-analysis. This provides robust evidence for a lasting effect of childhood adversity on brain structure.
AB - Introduction Childhood trauma and adversity are common across societies and have strong associations with physical and psychiatric morbidity throughout the life-course. One possible mechanism through which childhood trauma may predispose individuals to poor psychiatric outcomes is via associations with brain structure. This study aimed to elucidate the associations between childhood trauma and brain structure across two large, independent community cohorts. Methods The two samples comprised (i) a subsample of Generation Scotland (n=1,024); and (ii) individuals from UK Biobank (n=27,202). This comprised n=28,226 for mega-analysis. MRI scans were processed using Free Surfer, providing cortical, subcortical, and global brain metrics. Regression models were used to determine associations between childhood trauma measures and brain metrics and psychiatric phenotypes. Results Childhood trauma associated with lifetime depression across cohorts (OR 1.06 GS, 1.23 UKB), and related to early onset and recurrent course within both samples. There was evidence for associations between childhood trauma and structural brain metrics. This included reduced global brain volume, and reduced cortical surface area with highest effects in the frontal (β=-0.0385, SE=0.0048, p(FDR)=5.43x10-15) and parietal lobes (β=-0.0387, SE=0.005, p(FDR)=1.56x10-14). At a regional level the ventral diencephalon (VDc) displayed significant associations with childhood trauma measures across both cohorts and at mega-analysis (β=-0.0232, SE=0.0039, p(FDR)=2.91x10-8). There were also associations with reduced hippocampus, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens volumes. Discussion Associations between childhood trauma and reduced global and regional brain volumes were found, across two independent UK cohorts, and at mega-analysis. This provides robust evidence for a lasting effect of childhood adversity on brain structure.
KW - depression
KW - MRI
KW - trauma
KW - adversity
KW - brain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147385581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.2347
DO - 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.2347
M3 - Article
C2 - 36697368
SN - 0924-9338
VL - 66
JO - European Psychiatry
JF - European Psychiatry
IS - 1
M1 - e19
ER -