Molecular Epidemiology in Children's Environmental Health Training Program, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Imaging Research Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, Division of Epidemiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Environ Res. 2021 Oct;201:111559. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111559. Epub 2021 Jun 25.
Childhood lead exposure interferes with brain maturation, which adversely impacts cognitive and behavioral development. Lower intelligence scores, impairments in decision making, and increased rates of delinquent and criminal behavior are adverse outcomes linked to childhood lead absorption. The present study examined the relationships between childhood blood lead concentrations, structural brain volume, and measures of adult criminality. We hypothesized that increased rates of criminal arrests in adulthood would be inversely correlated with regional gray and white matter volumes, especially prefrontal areas responsible for decision making and self-control. We obtained childhood blood lead histories and anatomical magnetic resonance imaging from a subset of the longitudinally followed birth cohort known as the Cincinnati Lead Study. Criminality data for cohort participants were extracted from public databases. Voxel based morphometry was used to examine spatial differences in regional gray and white matter volumes associated with childhood blood lead concentrations and measures of adult criminality, respectively. Conjunction analyses allowed for the exploratory evaluation of common regions of volume change. Childhood blood lead concentrations were inversely associated with gray and white matter volume in the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes. Gray matter volumes were also inversely associated with criminal arrests with key regions within the cingulate, precuneus, several frontal gyri and the supplementary motor area. Conjunction analyses identified regions in the anterior cingulate, frontal gray matter and supplementary motor area associated with childhood lead absorption and criminality. The results from this study suggest that reduced brain volumes in regions responsible for cognition and emotional regulation are associated with childhood lead exposure and criminal arrests.
儿童期铅暴露会干扰大脑成熟，从而对认知和行为发育产生不良影响。较低的智力分数、决策障碍以及犯罪和违法行为的发生率增加，都是与儿童期铅吸收有关的不良后果。本研究探讨了儿童期血铅浓度、大脑结构体积与成人犯罪行为之间的关系。我们假设，成年后的犯罪率上升与大脑灰质和白质体积的减少呈负相关，尤其是与决策和自我控制能力相关的前额叶区域。我们从一个名为辛辛那提铅研究的纵向随访出生队列中获得了一组儿童血铅史和解剖磁共振成像数据。从公共数据库中提取了队列参与者的犯罪数据。体素形态计量学用于分别检查与儿童血铅浓度和成人犯罪行为相关的大脑灰质和白质体积的空间差异。联合分析允许对体积变化的共同区域进行探索性评估。儿童期血铅浓度与额叶、顶叶和颞叶的灰质和白质体积呈负相关。灰质体积还与犯罪逮捕呈负相关，关键区域位于扣带回、后扣带回、几个额叶回和辅助运动区。联合分析确定了与儿童期铅吸收和犯罪行为相关的前扣带、额叶灰质和辅助运动区的关联区域。这项研究的结果表明，负责认知和情绪调节的大脑区域的体积减少与儿童期铅暴露和犯罪逮捕有关。
