Childhood Abuse Experience Accelerates Brain Age: A Centile Brain Model Analysis
Poster No:
1874
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Yu-Chi Chen1, Laura Han2, Ashlea Segal3, Isabella Breukelaar4, Richard Bryant5, Mayuresh Korgaonkar6
Institutions:
1Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, 2Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, 3Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 4Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Petersham, NSW, 5University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 6Westmead institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Childhood abuse is a significant factor influencing neurodevelopment, often resulting in lasting alterations in brain structure and function. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with psychiatric diseases, such as major depressive disorder, exhibit accelerated brain aging, reflected by a higher predicted brain age relative to their chronological age (Han et al., 2021). This phenomenon, derived from structural MRI analyses, highlights the potential impact of stress and adversity on neurobiological aging processes. In this study, we investigate differences in predicted brain age and chronological age (Brain-PAD), calculated using the Centile Brain model (Ge et al., 2024), between individuals with and without early life stress (ELS), specifically focusing on childhood abuse.
Methods:
The study sample comprised 688 individuals from a well-characterized neuroimaging dataset (Korgaonkar et al., 2023). Among them, 553 participants (mean age = 34.59 years, SD = 12.71; 54.79% female) reported no history of childhood abuse, while 135 participants (mean age = 31.62 years, SD = 10.60; 43.70% female) reported a history of childhood abuse. The predicted brain age was estimated using the Centile Brain Model, with adjustments for chronological age and age squared to account for non-linear age effects. Brain-PAD was calculated as the difference between predicted brain age and chronological age. A logistic regression model was employed to assess the association between Brain-PAD and childhood abuse history, controlling for sex, psychiatric diagnosis (major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, or control), and years of education. Additionally, subgroup analyses were performed to examine differences based on the timing of early life stress (ELS). Participants with a history of ELS were categorized into those who experienced abuse before the age of 13 (N = 114; mean age = 32.74 years, SD = 11.57; 39.47% female) and those who experienced abuse after the age of 13 (N = 439; mean age = 35.07 years, SD = 12.96; 58.77% female).
Results:
Brain-PAD was significantly higher in individuals with a history of childhood abuse compared to non-abused controls (p=0.024), indicating that individuals with early life stress (ELS) exhibit more accelerated brain aging relative to their chronological age (Figure 1). Further subgroup analysis revealed no significant difference in Brain-PAD between those who experienced ELS before the age of 13 and those who experienced it after the age of 13 (p>0.05). This suggests that the timing of ELS within childhood does not substantially influence the degree of brain age acceleration.
Conclusions:
Our findings demonstrate that individuals with a history of childhood abuse exhibit significantly accelerated brain aging. However, the timing of early life stress (before or after the age of 13) did not significantly influence this acceleration. These results highlight the long-term neurobiological impact of childhood abuse on brain aging and underscore the importance of addressing early life adversities to mitigate potential neurodevelopmental consequences.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 2
Lifespan Development:
Aging
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
Anatomical MRI 1
Keywords:
MRI
Psychiatric
Structures
Other - Brain Age
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Abstract Information
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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.
Han, L. K. M. et al., (2021). Contributing factors to advanced brain aging in depression and anxiety disorders. Translational Psychiatry, 11(1), 402.
Korgaonkar, M. S. et al. (2023). Association of neural connectome with early experiences of abuse in adults. JAMA network open, 6(1), e2253082.