Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Daizhuang Hospital, Jining, China.
Department of Psychology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining, China.
Psychol Med. 2023 Apr;53(5):1681-1699. doi: 10.1017/S0033291723000661. Epub 2023 Mar 22.
Childhood maltreatment has been suggested to have an adverse impact on neurodevelopment, including microstructural brain abnormalities. Existing neuroimaging findings remain inconsistent and heterogeneous. We aim to explore the most prominent and robust cortical thickness (CTh) and gray matter volume (GMV) alterations associated with childhood maltreatment. A systematic search on relevant studies was conducted through September 2022. The whole-brain coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) on CTh and GMV studies were conducted using the seed-based mapping (SDM) software. Meta-regression analysis was subsequently applied to investigate potential associations between clinical variables and structural changes. A total of 45 studies were eligible for inclusion, including 11 datasets on CTh and 39 datasets on GMV, consisting of 2550 participants exposed to childhood maltreatment and 3739 unexposed comparison subjects. Individuals with childhood maltreatment exhibited overlapped deficits in the median cingulate/paracingulate gyri simultaneously revealed by both CTh and GM studies. Regional cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri and the left middle frontal gyrus, as well as GMV reductions in the left supplementary motor area (SMA) was also identified. No greater regions were found for either CTh or GMV. In addition, several neural morphology changes were associated with the average age of the maltreated individuals. The median cingulate/paracingulate gyri morphology might serve as the most robust neuroimaging feature of childhood maltreatment. The effects of early-life trauma on the human brain predominantly involved in cognitive functions, socio-affective functioning and stress regulation. This current meta-analysis enhanced the understanding of neuropathological changes induced by childhood maltreatment.
儿童虐待被认为对神经发育有不良影响，包括微观结构的大脑异常。现有的神经影像学发现仍然不一致和异质。我们旨在探索与儿童虐待相关的最显著和最稳健的皮质厚度（CTh）和灰质体积（GMV）变化。通过 2022 年 9 月进行了相关研究的系统搜索。使用基于种子的映射（SDM）软件对 CTh 和 GMV 研究进行了全脑坐标基元荟萃分析（CBMA）。随后进行了元回归分析，以调查临床变量与结构变化之间的潜在关联。共有 45 项研究符合纳入标准，包括 11 项 CTh 研究和 39 项 GMV 研究，其中包含 2550 名暴露于儿童虐待的参与者和 3739 名未暴露的对照组。暴露于儿童虐待的个体同时在 CTh 和 GM 研究中显示出中线扣带回/旁扣带回脑回的重叠缺陷。还发现右侧前扣带回/旁扣带回和左侧额中回的皮质变薄以及左辅助运动区（SMA）的 GMV 减少。对于 CTh 或 GMV，都没有发现更大的区域。此外，一些神经形态变化与受虐待个体的平均年龄有关。中线扣带回/旁扣带回脑回的形态可能是儿童虐待最稳健的神经影像学特征。生命早期创伤对人类大脑的影响主要涉及认知功能、社会情感功能和应激调节。本荟萃分析增强了对儿童虐待引起的神经病理学变化的理解。
