Impact of Childhood Maltreatment on Brain Activity in Adults, during Psychosocial Stress
Poster No:
482
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Claudio Peñafiel Poblete1, Francisco Zamorano2, Josue Dalboni3, Claudio Silva4, Cesar Salinas5, Ximena Stecher5, Ranganatha Sitaram3, Sergio Ruiz6
Institutions:
1Universidad Catolica, Santiago, Chile, 2Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile, 3St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 4Clinica Alemana, Santiago, Chile, 5Clínica Alemana, Santiago, Chile, 6Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as abuse and neglect, have a significant impact in brain development. Previous research in children and adolescents show that ACEs can result in alterations in brain activation during stress, affecting regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. In particular, Lim et al. (2018) found that children with childhood abuse exhibit thickness gray matter in key brain regions, potentially influencing stress responses and emotional regulation. However, evidence in adults is still scarce, and further research is needed to understand how ACEs influence neurobiological responses to stress in adulthood. This study examines differences in brain activity during a psychosocial stress task in adult women with high and low scores of childhood maltreatment, providing evidence in this underexplored field.
Methods:
Psychosocial stress was assessed using the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST)(Fig1) (Dedovic et al., 2005), which includes three conditions:
1.Practice: Establishes baseline mathematical ability.
2.No-stress: Arithmetic problems without time pressure.
3.Stress: Tasks dynamically increase in difficulty based on performance, with negative feedback and verbal prompts urging participants to respond faster.
Sixty women (18-40 years) without psychiatric conditions were assessed for childhood maltreatment using the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) questionnaire (Teicher & Parigger, 2015) and divided into:
•High MACE group (n = 29; mean ACE = 23.7)
•Low MACE group (n = 31; mean ACE = 7.4).
Brain activity was measured with a Siemens 3T MRI scanner, and BOLD signals were analyzed using FEAT (FSL). Preprocessing included motion correction, brain extraction, and spatial smoothing. Group comparisons applied a statistical threshold of Z > 2.3 and p = 0.001.
1.Practice: Establishes baseline mathematical ability.
2.No-stress: Arithmetic problems without time pressure.
3.Stress: Tasks dynamically increase in difficulty based on performance, with negative feedback and verbal prompts urging participants to respond faster.
Sixty women (18-40 years) without psychiatric conditions were assessed for childhood maltreatment using the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure (MACE) questionnaire (Teicher & Parigger, 2015) and divided into:
•High MACE group (n = 29; mean ACE = 23.7)
•Low MACE group (n = 31; mean ACE = 7.4).
Brain activity was measured with a Siemens 3T MRI scanner, and BOLD signals were analyzed using FEAT (FSL). Preprocessing included motion correction, brain extraction, and spatial smoothing. Group comparisons applied a statistical threshold of Z > 2.3 and p = 0.001.
Results:
No significant behavioral differences in MIST performance were found between the two groups. However, in the Low MACE group, response times were significantly slower in the no-stress condition compared to the stress condition (p < 0.05, Fig. 2), indicating a notable behavioral difference.
Neuroimaging analyses revealed group differences in BOLD signal activation under the stress condition:
1. Low MACE group:
• Increased BOLD signal was observed in the left occipital cortex under stress (Z > 2.3, p = 0.001, Fig. 3).
2. High MACE group:
• Higher BOLD activations were detected in brain regions including:
• Posterior cingulate cortex
• Precuneus
• Bilateral temporal gyri
• Superior frontal gyrus
(Fig. 4).
• These regions are known to be involved in self-referential thought, cognitive control, and emotional regulation.
• A 3D rendering of the brain (Fig. 5) highlights the extent of BOLD activations in the High MACE group compared to the Low MACE group, further demonstrating altered neural responses during stress.
Overall, the High MACE group exhibited widespread activation across key cortical regions involved in stress processing, while the Low MACE group showed localized activity in occipital regions.
Neuroimaging analyses revealed group differences in BOLD signal activation under the stress condition:
1. Low MACE group:
• Increased BOLD signal was observed in the left occipital cortex under stress (Z > 2.3, p = 0.001, Fig. 3).
2. High MACE group:
• Higher BOLD activations were detected in brain regions including:
• Posterior cingulate cortex
• Precuneus
• Bilateral temporal gyri
• Superior frontal gyrus
(Fig. 4).
• These regions are known to be involved in self-referential thought, cognitive control, and emotional regulation.
• A 3D rendering of the brain (Fig. 5) highlights the extent of BOLD activations in the High MACE group compared to the Low MACE group, further demonstrating altered neural responses during stress.
Overall, the High MACE group exhibited widespread activation across key cortical regions involved in stress processing, while the Low MACE group showed localized activity in occipital regions.
Conclusions:
When facing situations of psychosocial stress, both groups activate different brain areas despite displaying the same behavioral outcomes. This indicates the activity of a compensatory mechanism in response to stress. In the High MACE group Increased activations are observed in the posterior cingulate gyrus, precuneus, temporal gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus-key regions of the mentalization network (DMN). This suggests
that individuals with childhood maltreatment rely more on this network for emotional and cognitive regulation during stress but struggle to engage it
effectively under neutral emotional conditions.
that individuals with childhood maltreatment rely more on this network for emotional and cognitive regulation during stress but struggle to engage it
effectively under neutral emotional conditions.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism)
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI)
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI 2
Keywords:
ADULTS
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Trauma
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Was this research conducted in the United States?
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Teicher, M. H., Samson, J. A., Anderson, C. M., & Ohashi, K. (2016). The effects of childhood maltreatment on brain structure, function, and connectivity. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17(10), 652–666. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.111