Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.
BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 16;24(1):287. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05759-3.
Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with neurobiological aberrations and atypical social cognition. Few studies have examined the neural effects of another common early-life interpersonal stressor, namely peer victimisation (PV). This study examines the associations between tract aberrations and childhood interpersonal stress from caregivers (CM) and peers (PV), and explores how the observed tract alterations are in turn related to affective theory of mind (ToM).
Data from 107 age-and gender-matched youths (34 CM [age = 19.9 ± 1.68; 36%male], 35 PV [age = 19.9 ± 1.65; 43%male], 38 comparison subjects [age = 20.0 ± 1.66; 42%male] were analysed using tractography and whole-brain tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS).
At the whole-brain level using TBSS, the CM group had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) than the PV and comparison groups in a cluster of predominantly limbic and corpus callosal pathways. Segmented tractography indicated the CM group had higher FA in right uncinate fasciculus compared to both groups. They also had smaller right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) tract volume than the comparison group and higher left ATR FA than the PV group, with these metrics associated with higher emotional abuse and enhanced affective ToM within the CM group, respectively. The PV group had lower inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus FA than the other two groups, which was related to lower affective ToM within the PV group.
Findings suggest that exposure to early-life stress from caregivers and peers are differentially associated with alterations of neural pathways connecting the frontal, temporal and occipital cortices involved in cognitive and affective control, with possible links to their atypical social cognition.
儿童期虐待（CM）与神经生物学异常和非典型社会认知有关。很少有研究检查另一种常见的早期人际应激源，即同伴受害（PV）的神经影响。本研究探讨了来自照顾者（CM）和同伴（PV）的儿童人际应激与轨迹异常之间的关联，并探讨了观察到的轨迹改变如何与情感心理理论（ToM）相关。
对 107 名年龄和性别匹配的青少年（34 名 CM [年龄=19.9±1.68；36%男性]、35 名 PV [年龄=19.9±1.65；43%男性]、38 名对照组[年龄=20.0±1.66；42%男性]的数据进行了分析，使用了轨迹和全脑基于束的空间统计学（TBSS）。
在全脑 TBSS 水平上，CM 组在以边缘和胼胝体为主的簇中具有比 PV 和对照组更高的各向异性分数（FA）。分段轨迹显示，与两组相比，CM 组右侧钩束的 FA 更高。他们的右侧前丘脑辐射（ATR）束体积也比对照组小，左 ATR FA 比 PV 组高，这些指标与 CM 组中更高的情感虐待和增强的情感 ToM 相关，而 PV 组中更低的下额枕束 FA 与其他两组相比，与 PV 组中较低的情感 ToM 相关。
研究结果表明，来自照顾者和同伴的早期生活压力的暴露与连接额叶、颞叶和枕叶的神经通路的改变有差异，这些改变与认知和情感控制相关，可能与他们的非典型社会认知有关。
