Jin Xiaokang, Xu Bin, Jin Hua, Yan Shizhen
Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China.
Student Mental Health Education and Counseling Center, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 May 28;15(6):746. doi: 10.3390/bs15060746.
Childhood trauma encompasses various subtypes, and evidence suggests that neurodevelopmental damage differs across these subtypes. However, the specific impact of childhood emotional neglect (CEN), a distinct subtype of childhood trauma, on the microstructural integrity of brain white matter remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effects of CEN on the microstructure of brain white matter in young adults using diffusion tensor imaging. After administering online questionnaires, conducting interviews, and obtaining diagnoses from specialized physicians, we recruited 20 young adults with a history of CEN and 20 young adults with no history of childhood trauma. Using automating fiber tract quantification (driven by a diffusion tensor model), we traced the 20 primary white matter fibers and divided each fiber into 100 nodes for analysis. Group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) at each node of each fiber were then examined. The results revealed that the FA values at nodes 1-35 of the right thalamic radiation were consistently lower in the emotional neglect group compared to the control group (after FEW correction, cluster threshold = 22, p-threshold = 0.005). These findings suggest an association between CEN and reduced FA values in the right thalamic radiation, indicating alterations in brain white matter. Overall, our results contribute to the theoretical understanding of how "experience shapes the brain," providing new insights into the neurostructural consequences of childhood emotional neglect.
童年创伤包含多种亚型，有证据表明，这些亚型的神经发育损伤存在差异。然而，童年情感忽视（CEN）作为童年创伤的一种独特亚型，对脑白质微观结构完整性的具体影响仍不明确。因此，本研究旨在利用扩散张量成像技术，探究童年情感忽视对年轻成人大脑白质微观结构的影响。在发放在线问卷、进行访谈并获得专科医生的诊断后，我们招募了20名有童年情感忽视史的年轻成年人以及20名无童年创伤史的年轻成年人。我们使用自动纤维束定量分析（由扩散张量模型驱动），追踪了20条主要的白质纤维，并将每条纤维划分为100个节点进行分析。随后，我们检查了每条纤维各节点处的分数各向异性（FA）的组间差异。结果显示，与对照组相比，情感忽视组右侧丘脑辐射1 - 35节点处的FA值始终较低（在错误发现率校正后，聚类阈值 = 22，p值阈值 = 0.005）。这些发现表明童年情感忽视与右侧丘脑辐射处FA值降低之间存在关联，提示脑白质发生了改变。总体而言，我们的研究结果有助于从理论上理解“经历如何塑造大脑”，为童年情感忽视的神经结构后果提供了新的见解。
