The Dichotomy of Threat and Deprivation as Subtypes of Childhood Maltreatment: Differential Functional Connectivity Patterns of Threat and Reward Circuits in an Adult Trauma Sample. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging 2024 Feb;9(2):227-234
Date
10/24/2023Pubmed ID
37871776Pubmed Central ID
PMC10922968DOI
10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.10.001Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85180332674 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 1 CitationAbstract
BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced activation of the nucleus accumbens, a central region in the reward network, and overactivity in the amygdala, a key region in threat processing. However, the long-lasting impact of these associations in the context of later-life stress is not well understood. The current study explored the association between childhood threat and deprivation and functional connectivity of threat and reward regions in an adult trauma sample.
METHODS: Trauma survivors (N = 169; mean age [SD] = 32.2 [10.3] years; female = 55.6%) were recruited from a level I trauma center. Two weeks after injury, participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (measuring experiences of threat and deprivation) and underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Seed-to-voxel analyses evaluated the effect of childhood threat and deprivation on amygdala and nucleus accumbens resting-state connectivity.
RESULTS: Higher levels of threat were associated with increased connectivity between the right nucleus accumbens with temporal fusiform gyrus/parahippocampal gyrus and the left amygdala and the precuneus (false discovery rate-corrected p < .05). After controlling for posttraumatic symptoms 2 weeks posttrauma and lifetime trauma exposure, only the nucleus accumbens findings survived. There were no significant relationships between experiences of childhood deprivation and amygdala or nucleus accumbens connectivity.
CONCLUSIONS: Experiences of threat are associated with increased nucleus accumbens and amygdala connectivity, which may reflect a preparedness to detect salient and visual stimuli. This may also reflect a propensity toward dysregulated reward processing. Overall, these results suggest that childhood threat may be contributing to aberrant neural baseline reward and threat sensitivity later in life in an adult trauma sample.
Author List
Liuzzi MT, Harb F, Petranu K, Huggins AA, Webb EK, Fitzgerald JM, Krukowski JL, Miskovich TA, deRoon-Cassini TA, Larson CLAuthor
Terri A. deRoon Cassini PhD Center Director, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAmygdala
Child
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nucleus Accumbens
Psychological Tests
Reward
Self Report
