Examination of the association between exposure to childhood maltreatment and brain structure in young adults: a machine learning analysis

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Matthew Price - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Matthew Albaugh - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Sage Hahn - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Anthony C. Juliano - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Negar Fani - , Emory University (Author)
  • Zoe M.F. Brier - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Alison C. Legrand - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Katherine van Stolk-Cooke - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Bader Chaarani - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Alexandra Potter - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Kelly Peck - , University of Vermont, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (Author)
  • Nicholas Allgaier - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Arun L.W. Bokde - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Erin Burke Quinlan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Herta Flor - , Heidelberg University , University of Mannheim (Author)
  • Antoine Grigis - , French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - , University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (Author)
  • Bernd Ittermann - , Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Author)
  • Jean Luc Martinot - , INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Marie Laure Paillère - , INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (Author)
  • Eric Artiges - , INSERM - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Hospital Group Nord-Essonne (Author)
  • Frauke Nees - , Heidelberg University , King's College London (KCL), University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - , French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) (Author)
  • Luise Poustka - , University of Göttingen (Author)
  • Sarah Hohmann - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Juliane H. Fröhner - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neuroimaging Center (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Neuroimaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - , Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - , King's College London (KCL), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Fudan University (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - , University of Vermont (Author)

Abstract

Exposure to maltreatment during childhood is associated with structural changes throughout the brain. However, the structural differences that are most strongly associated with maltreatment remain unclear given the limited number of whole-brain studies. The present study used machine learning to identify if and how brain structure distinguished young adults with and without a history of maltreatment. Young adults (ages 18–21, n = 384) completed an assessment of childhood trauma exposure and a structural MRI as part of the IMAGEN study. Elastic net regularized regression was used to identify the structural features that identified those with a history of maltreatment. A generalizable model that included 7 cortical thicknesses, 15 surface areas, and 5 subcortical volumes was identified (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.71, p < 0.001). Those with a maltreatment history had reduced surface areas and cortical thicknesses primarily in fronto-temporal regions. This group also had larger cortical thicknesses in occipital regions and surface areas in frontal regions. The results suggest childhood maltreatment is associated with multiple measures of structure throughout the brain. The use of a large sample without exposure to adulthood trauma provides further evidence for the unique contribution of childhood trauma to brain structure. The identified regions overlapped with regions associated with psychopathology in adults with maltreatment histories, which offers insights as to how these disorders manifest.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1888-1894
Number of pages7
JournalNeuropsychopharmacology
Volume46
Issue number11
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 33637836
ORCID /0000-0002-8493-6396/work/161409522
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/161409051

Keywords