title: Childhood abuse and deprivation are associated with distinct sex-dependent differences in brain morphology.
abstract: Childhood adversity (CA) has been associated with long-term structural brain alterations and an increased risk for psychiatric disorders. Evidence is emerging that subtypes of CA, varying in the dimensions of threat and deprivation, lead to distinct neural and behavioral outcomes. However, these specific associations have yet to be established without potential confounders such as psychopathology. Moreover, differences in neural development and psychopathology necessitate the exploration of sexual dimorphism. Young healthy adult subjects were selected based on history of CA from a large database to assess gray matter (GM) differences associated with specific subtypes of adversity. We compared voxel-based morphometry data of subjects reporting specific childhood exposure to abuse (n=127) or deprivation (n=126) and a similar sized group of controls (n=129) without reported CA. Subjects were matched on age, gender, and educational level. Differences between CA subtypes were found in the fusiform gyrus and middle occipital gyrus, where subjects with a history of deprivation showed reduced GM compared with subjects with a history of abuse. An interaction between sex and CA subtype was found. Women showed less GM in the visual posterior precuneal region after both subtypes of CA than controls. Men had less GM in the postcentral gyrus after childhood deprivation compared with abuse. Our results suggest that even in a healthy population, CA subtypes are related to specific alterations in brain structure, which are modulated by sex. These findings may help understand neurodevelopmental consequences related to CA.
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Everaerd
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Floris
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klumpers
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zwiers
authors.affiliation: Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tulio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guadalupe
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van Oostrom
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aart
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schene
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Guillén
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|LVR Clinics of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center, University of Essen Duisburg, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Indira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tendolkar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011610:Psychosocial Deprivation; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult