Differential Alterations in Topology Property of Resting State Networks Associated With Mental Health and Childhood Trauma

• Published in: Alternative therapies in health and medicine Vol. 29; no. 8; pp. 426 - 434
• Main Authors: Wu, Yankai, Fu, Kailiang, Feng, Xuran, Wang, Yuzhao, Li, Ling, Gao, Duo, Geng, Zuojun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Aliso Viejo InnoVision Health Media, Inc 01.11.2023
• Subjects: Anxiety; Brain research; Domestic violence; Efficiency; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Neurosciences; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychopathology; Questionnaires; Research methodology; Trauma
• ISSN: 1078-6791

Objective * The study intended to identify brain networks that are susceptible to childhood trauma by comparing differences in the networks of individuals with and without trauma, to investigate how changes in networks can mediate the effects childhood adversity on mental health. The research team: (1) assessed participants' depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); anxiety levels using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); personality traits using the Three-Dimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), and childhood traumatic experiences using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ); (2) analyzed the data using independent component analysis (ICA) and graph theory based on resting-state functional networks to assess the functional connectivity (FC) and global efficiency of participants' brains; (3) performed a correlation analysis between changes in the topological properties of participants' brains and neglect and abuse, (4) explored the mediating effects between childhood trauma and mental health, and (5) explored gender as a moderator of the relationship between neglect and changes in the global efficiency of within-network connectivity. ABSTRACT Childhood trauma can have profound effects on mental, social, and emotional outcomes in adulthood, leading to greater vulnerability to psychopathology, including depression,1 anxiety,2 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideation.3 Takizawa et al found that childhood trauma can explain about 30% of mental disorders.3 Pechtel and Pizzagalli found that childhood trauma can affect mental health throughout a person's life cycle,4 but the complex relationship between the timing of childhood trauma and neurobiology remains to be studied. Currently, the study of childhood trauma and neural development involves two types of approaches: (1) the cumulative risk model and (2) the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP) that McLaughlin and Sheridan proposed.5 Risk Models The cumulative risk model, the more-common research method in the past decade, counts the number of different forms of adversity; creates a risk score without regard to the type, chronicity, or severity of the experience; and uses that score as a predictor of outcomes.6 It focuses on the number of childhood-trauma experiences rather than the type or severity of those experiences.7 However, it has significant limitations in determining the mechanism of the association between childhood trauma and developmental outcomes.