Boccadoro Sara, Siugzdaite Roma, Hudson Anna R, Maeyens Lien, Van Hamme Charlotte, Mueller Sven C
Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2019 Aug 7;10(1):1647044. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2019.1647044. eCollection 2019.
: Experience of childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk for the development of psychopathology and is associated with impairments in socio-cognitive skills including theory-of-mind (ToM). In turn, neural alterations in ToM processing might then influence future interpersonal interaction and social-emotional understanding. : To assess resting-state activity in the theory-of-mind network in traumatized and non-traumatized persons. : Thirty-five women with a history of childhood maltreatment and 31 unaffected women completed a resting-state scan and a ToM localizer task. The peak coordinates from the localizer were used as the seed regions for the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses (temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and precuneus). : Child abuse was associated with increased RSFC between various ToM regions including the precuneus and the brainstem suggesting altered hierarchical processing in ToM regions. Number of types of abuse was driving the effect for the temporo-parietal junction and the brainstem, while the severity of abuse was linked to increased RSFC between the middle temporal gyrus and the frontal cortex. Post-hoc analyses of brainstem regions indicated the involvement of the serotonergic system (dorsal raphe). : The data indicate a lasting impact of childhood maltreatment on the neural networks involved in social information processing that are integral to understanding others' emotional states. Indeed, such altered neural networks may account for some of the interpersonal difficulties victims of childhood maltreatment experience.
童年期受虐待的经历会显著增加精神病理学发展的风险，并与包括心理理论（ToM）在内的社会认知技能受损有关。反过来，心理理论加工中的神经改变可能会影响未来的人际互动和社会情感理解。
为了评估受过创伤和未受过创伤的人的心理理论网络中的静息态活动。
35名有童年期受虐待史的女性和31名未受影响的女性完成了静息态扫描和心理理论定位任务。定位任务中的峰值坐标被用作静息态功能连接（RSFC）分析的种子区域（颞顶联合区、背内侧前额叶皮质、颞中回和楔前叶）。
童年期受虐待与包括楔前叶和脑干在内的各个心理理论区域之间的静息态功能连接增加有关，这表明心理理论区域的层级加工发生了改变。虐待类型的数量对颞顶联合区和脑干产生了影响，而虐待的严重程度与颞中回和额叶皮质之间静息态功能连接的增加有关。对脑干区域的事后分析表明血清素能系统（中缝背核）参与其中。
数据表明童年期受虐待对参与社会信息加工的神经网络有持久影响，而社会信息加工对于理解他人的情绪状态至关重要。事实上，这种改变的神经网络可能是童年期受虐待受害者所经历的一些人际困难的原因。
