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

ABSTRACT

Context Childhood trauma can lead to greater vulnerability to psychopathology and can affect person's mental health throughout his or her life cycle. Research on the associations between childhood trauma and developmental outcomes is critical to creating effective interventions. 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. Design: The research team performed a prospective cross-sectional survey. Setting: The study took place at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University in Shijiazhuang, China. Participants: Participants were 80 individuals aged 18-30 years, with and without childhood trauma. Outcome Measures: Participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). 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. Results: Childhood trauma was associated with altered global efficiency of the salience network (SAN) and the default mode network (DMN). Compared with the healthy control group, the childhood trauma group's global efficiency of the SAN for the left (P = .022) and right (P = .013) bilateral anterior insula were significantly higher and the global efficiency of the DMN for the right lateral precuneus was significantly lower (P = .022). Compared with males, neglect was significantly more likely to affect the global efficiency of the SAN for females (R2 = 0.473, t = -2.33, F(3,76) = 24.66, B = -0.005, and P = .022). The childhood trauma group's mean score for novelty seeking on the TPQ was significantly higher than that of the healthy control group (P = .029), showing that the global efficiency of the SAN and DMN had a significant role as a mediator between neglect and novelty seeking. Conclusions: These findings indicate that childhood trauma can alter resting-state functional networks in healthy youth. This abnormality in brain circuitry is especially relevant to the DMN and SAN networks.