Heightened response to positive facial cues as a potential marker of resilience following childhood adversity.

Background: Childhood maltreatment profoundly influences social and emotional development, increasing psychiatric risk. Alterations in the implicit processing of threat-related cues following early abuse and neglect represent a marker of mental health vulnerability. Less is known about how early adversity influences the perception of positive social cues, despite their central role in establishing and maintaining social interactions and their association with better mental health outcomes.Methods: The sample consisted of 42 children and adolescents with substantiated childhood maltreatment experiences and 32 peers (mean age 13.3), matched on age, pubertal status, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and cognitive ability. A computerised experimental task assessed the perceived emotional intensity of positive (happy) and negative (fearful) facial expressions. Mental health symptoms were measured via self- and parental reports, and perceived social support was self-reported.Results: The experience of abuse and neglect was associated with heightened perceived intensity of positive facial cues. Cross-sectional post-hoc moderation and mediation analyses, employing a model-building approach, revealed that in maltreatment-exposed participants: (i) their increased response to positive facial cues was associated with lower symptoms; (ii) the presence of social support accounted for their heightened perceived intensity of positive facial cues; (iii) the presence of social support putatively contributed to lower symptoms by increasing the perceived intensity of positive facial cues. No group differences in perceived intensity of negative expressions were observed.Conclusions: These findings provide fresh insight into how positive faces are processed following maltreatment experience in childhood. Maltreatment experience was found to be associated with heightened perceived intensity of happy faces, which in turn was associated with better mental health and greater levels of social support. This suggests that heightened saliency of positive emotions acts protectively in children with maltreatment experience.

The impact of childhood maltreatment on perceiving positive social cues, especially explicit emotional intensity appraisal, is less understood compared to the extensive focus on its role in processing threat-related cues and psychiatric risk.In this study, we found that maltreatment experience was associated with heightened perceived intensity of happy faces, which in turn was associated with better mental health and greater levels of social support.These findings suggest that heightened saliency of positive emotions may act protectively in children with maltreatment experience.

Reduced prosocial motivation and effort in adolescents with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits.

BACKGROUND: Prosocial behaviours - acts that benefit others - are of crucial importance for many species including humans. However, adolescents with conduct problems (CP), unlike their typically developing (TD) peers, demonstrate markedly reduced engagement in prosocial behaviours. This pattern is particularly pronounced in adolescents with CP and high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU) who are at increased risk of developing psychopathy in adulthood. While a substantial amount of research has investigated the cognitive-affective mechanisms thought to underlie antisocial behaviour, much less is known about the mechanisms that could explain reduced prosocial behaviours in adolescents with CP. METHODS: Here we examined the willingness to exert effort to benefit oneself (self) and another person (other, prosocial condition) in children with CP/HCU, CP and lower levels of CU traits (CP/LCU) and their TD peers. The task captured both prosocial choices, and actual effort exerted following prosocial choices, in adolescent boys aged 11-16 (27 CP/HCU; 34 CP/LCU; 33 TD). We used computational modelling to reveal the mechanistic processes involved when choosing prosocial acts. RESULTS: We found that both CP/HCU and CP/LCU groups were more averse to initiating effortful prosocial acts than TD adolescents - both at a cognitive and at a behavioural level. Strikingly, even if they chose to initiate a prosocial act, the CP/HCU group exerted less effort following this prosocial choice than other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that reduced exertion of effort to benefit others may be an important factor that differentiates adolescents with CP/HCU from their peers with CP/LCU. They offer new insights into what might drive low prosocial behaviour in adolescents with CP, including vulnerabilities that may particularly characterise those with high levels of CU traits.

Atypical Interpersonal Problem-Solving and Resting-state Functional Connectivity in Adolescents with Maltreatment Experience.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered neurocognitive functioning, which is thought to reflect, in part, adaptation to early adverse environmental experiences. However, we continue to lack a precise mechanistic understanding linking atypical neurocognitive processing with social functioning and psychiatric outcomes following early adversity. OBJECTIVE: The present work investigated interpersonal problem-solving, resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), and mental health symptoms in adolescents with documented maltreatment experience and explored whether altered neural function contributes in part to poorer social functioning. METHODS: Forty adolescents (aged 12-17) with documented experiences of abuse or neglect and a carefully matched group of 42 non-maltreated peers participated in this study that measured task-based interpersonal problem-solving skills and rsFC. RESULTS: Adolescents with maltreatment experience showed poorer interpersonal problem-solving performance, which partly accounted for their elevated mental health symptoms. Resting-state seed-based analyses revealed that adolescents with maltreatment experience showed a significant increase in rsFC between medial Default Mode Network (DMN) hubs, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), with a posterior cluster, including the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), precuneus (PCu), retrosplenial cortex (RSC), and lingual gyrus (LG). Moderation analyses revealed that maltreatment-related increased DMN rsFC partly accounted for poorer performance in interpersonal problem-solving. CONCLUSION: Poorer interpersonal problem-solving, partly accounted for by atypical coupling between DMN medial hubs, was associated with maltreatment exposure. Interventions tailored to enhance interpersonal problem-solving represents a promising avenue to promote resilience and reduce the likelihood of mental health disorder following maltreatment experience.

A systematic review of childhood maltreatment and resting state functional connectivity.

Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) has the potential to shed light on how childhood abuse and neglect relates to negative psychiatric outcomes. However, a comprehensive review of the impact of childhood maltreatment on the brain's resting state functional organization has not yet been undertaken. We systematically searched rsFC studies in children and youth exposed to maltreatment. Nineteen studies (total n = 3079) met our inclusion criteria. Two consistent findings were observed. Childhood maltreatment was linked to reduced connectivity between the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and with widespread heightened amygdala connectivity with key structures in the salience, default mode, and prefrontal regulatory networks. Other brain regions showing altered connectivity included the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. These patterns of altered functional connectivity associated with maltreatment exposure were independent of symptoms, yet comparable to those seen in individuals with overt clinical disorder. Summative findings indicate that rsFC alterations associated with maltreatment experience are related to poor cognitive and social functioning and are prognostic of future symptoms. In conclusion, maltreatment is associated with altered rsFC in emotional reactivity, regulation, learning, and salience detection brain circuits. This indicates patterns of recalibration of putative mechanisms implicated in maladaptive developmental outcomes.

Social information use in adolescents with conduct problems and varying levels of callous-unemotional traits.

Background: Adolescents with conduct problems (CP) are characterised by difficulties with social relationships and display atypical social cognition, such as when interpreting emotional expressions or engaging in social problem-solving. One important aspect of social cognition that warrants investigation is the degree to which these adolescents factor others' views into their already held beliefs, and strategies used to do so. Effective social information use enables attunement to social environment, cooperation, and social problem-solving. Difficulties in this regard could contribute to problems in social interactions in adolescents with CP, and may vary with adolescents' high (CP/HCU) versus low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/LCU). Methods: We compared social information use in boys (11-16 years) with CP/HCU (n = 32), CP/LCU (n = 31) and typically developing (TD) peers (n = 45), matched for IQ. Participants provided estimates of numbers of animals on a screen, saw another adolescent's estimate, and could adjust their initial estimate. We compared two aspects of social information use: (1) degree of adjustment of initial estimate towards another's estimate and (2) strategy use when adjusting estimates. Results: Degree of adjustment towards another's estimate did not vary across groups, but strategy use did. Adolescents with CP/LCU compromised less following social information than TD peers. Conclusions: Findings suggest that while adolescents with CP are able to take social information into account, those with CP/LCU use this information in a way that differs from other groups and could be less efficient. This warrants further systematic investigation as it could represent a target for behaviour management strategies. Overall, this study highlights the need for more research delineating the social-cognitive profile of adolescents with CP/LCU.

Modulation of Amygdala Response by Cognitive Conflict in Adolescents with Conduct Problems and Varying Levels of CU Traits.

Adolescents with conduct problems and low callous-unemotional traits are characterised by high levels of reactive aggression. Prior studies suggest that they can have exaggerated neural and behavioural responses to negative emotional stimuli, accompanied by compromised affect regulation and atypical engagement of prefrontal areas during cognitive control. This pattern may in part explain their symptoms. Clarifying how neurocognitive responses to negative emotional stimuli can be modulated in this group has potential translational relevance. We present fMRI data from a cognitive conflict task in which the requirement to visually scan emotional (vs. calm) faces was held constant across low and high levels of cognitive conflict. Participants were 17 adolescent males with conduct problems and low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/LCU); 17 adolescents with conduct problems and high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU, who typically show blunted reactivity to fear), and 18 typically developing controls (age range 10-16). Control participants showed typical attenuation of amygdala response to fear relative to calm faces under high (relative to low) conflict, replicating previous findings in a healthy adult sample. In contrast, children with CP/LCU showed a reduced (left amygdala) or reversed (right amygdala) attenuation effect under high cognitive conflict conditions. Children with CP/HCU did not differ from controls. Findings suggest atypical modulation of amygdala response as a function of task demands, and raise the possibility that those with CP/LCU are unable to implement typical regulation of amygdala response when cognitive task demands are high.

Autobiographical memory as a latent vulnerability mechanism following childhood maltreatment: Association with future depression symptoms and prosocial behavior.

OBJECTIVES: Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered neural reactivity during autobiographical memory (ABM) recall and a pattern of overgeneral memory (OGM). Altered ABM and OGM have been linked with psychopathology and poorer social functioning. The present study investigated the association between altered ABM and subsequent socio-emotional functioning (measured two years later) in a sample of adolescents with (N = 20; maltreatment group, MT) and without (N = 17; non-MT group) documented childhood maltreatment histories. METHOD: At baseline, adolescents (aged 12.6 ± 1.45 years) were administered the Autobiographical Memory Test to measure OGM. Participants also recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally valenced cue words during functional MRI. Adolescents in both groups underwent assessments measuring depressive symptoms and prosocial behavior at both timepoints. Regression analyses were carried out to predict outcome measures at follow-up controlling for baseline levels. RESULTS: In the MT group, greater OGM at baseline significantly predicted reduced prosocial behavior at follow-up and showed a trend level association with elevated depressive symptoms. Patterns of altered ABM-related brain activity did not significantly predict future psycho-social functioning. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings highlight the potential value of OGM as a cognitive mechanism that could be targeted to reduce risk of depression in adolescents with prior histories of maltreatment.

Facial recognition during early motherhood: Investigating the persistence of age and affect biases.

Converging evidence demonstrates increased levels of sensitivity to infant faces in mothers. This may be reflective of a series of psychological and neurobiological changes that occur in the transition to, and during early, parenthood for the purpose of appropriate caregiving; however, this enhanced infant facial recognition is in contrast with the general adult literature regarding facial processing. In the current study, we aimed to replicate a prior study of emotion facial recognition in pregnant women in a sample of mothers with children under a year old, utilizing a paradigm in which adult and infant faces gradually changed from neutral expressions to either happy or sad expressions. Mothers were faster at the recognition of adult faces in comparison to infant faces, and were also faster at happy faces in comparison to sad faces. Results are discussed in context of the current processing literature regarding the perinatal period, and implications for the persistence of the own-age bias and happy face advantage are considered.

Heightened amygdala reactivity and increased stress generation predict internalizing symptoms in adults following childhood maltreatment.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is one of the most potent predictors of future psychopathology, including internalizing disorders. It remains unclear whether heightened amygdala reactivity to threat and elevated stress exposure may be implicated in the pathogenesis and maintenance of internalizing disorders among individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment. METHODS: Using data from a sample of 1,144 young adults, we investigated the contribution of baseline threat-related amygdala reactivity and prospective major stressful life events to internalizing symptoms severity 1 year later (on average) in individuals with a history of maltreatment (n = 100) and propensity score matched nonmaltreated peers (n = 96). RESULTS: Even after stringently matching for several potentially confounding variables - including baseline internalizing symptoms, socioeconomic status and IQ - childhood maltreatment status predicted increased amygdala reactivity at baseline, elevated post-baseline exposure to major stressful life events and internalizing symptoms at follow-up. We also showed, for the first time, that amygdala reactivity at baseline and also post-baseline exposure to major stressful life events mediated the association between a history of maltreatment and future internalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide support for the view that maltreatment is a potent developmental insult leading to long-lasting neurocognitive recalibrations of the threat processing system. It is possible that such alterations, over time, may impact mental health functioning by compromising the ability to effectively negotiate everyday challenges (stress susceptibility). These alterations were not, however, found to sensitize an individual to the impact of major stressful life events. The results of this study also lend compelling support to the view that increased psychiatric risk, in the context of childhood maltreatment, follows from an increased propensity to experience major stressful life events (stress generation).

Facial emotion recognition during pregnancy: Examining the effects of facial age and affect.

It is vital that new mothers quickly and accurately recognize their child's facial expressions. There is evidence that during pregnancy women develop enhanced processing of facial features associated with infancy and distress, as these cues signal vulnerability and are therefore biologically salient. In this study, 51 pregnant women at 17-36 weeks gestation watched neutral infant and adult faces gradually morph into either happy or sad expressions. We measured the speed and accuracy with which participants were able to recognize facial affect (happy vs. sad) across facial ages (infant vs. adult). Participants were faster and more accurate at recognizing happy versus sad faces and adult versus infant faces. We discuss how prior exposure to a certain face type may explain faster recognition. We also consider these results in the context of evidence indicating positive affect is recognized more quickly, but associated with slower attention and detection.

Ghosts in the nursery: An experimental investigation of a parent's own maltreatment experience, attention to infant faces, and dyadic reciprocity.

Previous studies have shown that the experience of childhood maltreatment can influence recognition and processing of emotional cues and that these effects can extend into adulthood. Such alterations in cognitive processing may have important implications for processing of infant affect and parenting behavior. This study investigated whether the experience of childhood maltreatment altered attentional processing of infant faces in a community sample of mothers, using an established visual search task. Increased scores on a measure of childhood maltreatment were associated with decreased preferential bias toward infant faces (indexed by slower reaction times to infant compared to adult faces). Exploratory analysis of the relationship between attentional processing and actual "own child" parenting behavior (as measured by a video-recorded mother-child interaction) found that lower attentional bias to infant faces mediated the relationship between higher levels of childhood maltreatment and lower levels of mother-infant Dyadic Reciprocity. This suggests that childhood maltreatment may have enduring effects on the preferential processing of infant cues as well as parenting behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

DRD4 methylation as a potential biomarker for physical aggression: An epigenome-wide, cross-tissue investigation.

Epigenetic processes that regulate gene expression, such as DNA methylation (DNAm), have been linked to individual differences in physical aggression. Yet, it is currently unclear whether: (a) DNAm patterns in humans associate with physical aggression independently of other co-occurring psychiatric and behavioral symptoms; (b) whether these patterns are observable across multiple tissues; and (c) whether they may function as a causal versus noncausal biomarker of physical aggression. Here, we used a multisample, cross-tissue design to address these questions. First, we examined genome-wide DNAm patterns (buccal swabs; Illumina 450k) associated with engagement in physical fights in a sample of high-risk youth (n = 119; age = 16-24 years; 53% female). We identified one differentially methylated region in DRD4, which survived genome-wide correction, associated with physical aggression above and beyond co-occurring symptomatology (e.g., ADHD, substance use), and showed strong cross-tissue concordance with both blood and brain. Second, we found that DNAm sites within this region were also differentially methylated in an independent sample of young adults, between individuals with a history of chronic-high versus low physical aggression (peripheral T cells; ages 26-28). Finally, we ran a Mendelian randomization analysis using GWAS data from the EAGLE consortium to test for a causal association of DRD4 methylation with physical aggression. Only one genetic instrument was eligible for the analysis, and results provided no evidence for a causal association. Overall, our findings lend support for peripheral DRD4 methylation as a potential biomarker of physically aggressive behavior, with no evidence yet of a causal relationship.

Evidence for Depressogenic Spontaneous Thoughts and Altered Resting-State Connectivity in Adolescents With a Maltreatment History.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood maltreatment has been associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). Atypical self-generated thoughts (SGT), lacking in positive and privileging negative content-a feature of ruminative thinking-might represent one vulnerability factor for developing depression. Rumination in MDD has been linked to alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) to the default mode network and the fronto-parietal network (FPN). This study aimed to investigate online SGT content and its variability, as well as sgACC RSFC, as potential risk markers for depression in adolescents who experienced maltreatment. METHOD: Adolescents 12 to 16 years old (29 with maltreatment history [MT] and 39 with no maltreatment history [NMT]) performed an established mind-wandering task. Participants made nondemanding number discriminations during which intermittent questions probed their SGTs that were classified as off-task, positive, negative, self-related, other-related, past-oriented, or future-oriented. Resting-state data were acquired separately for 22 of 29 MT and 27 39 NMT adolescents, and seed-based functional connectivity analyses of the sgACC were performed. RESULTS: MT, relative to the NMT adolescents, generated significantly fewer positively valenced thoughts, and exhibited more extreme ratings for positively valenced thoughts. MT adolescents also showed significantly reduced RSFC between the sgACC and the FPN. Group differences in depressive symptoms between the MT and NMT adolescents were partly accounted by differences in sgACC-FPN RSFC. CONCLUSION: Adolescents who experienced maltreatment show a reduction in positively valenced spontaneous thoughts and reduced sgACC-FPN RSFC at the neural level. These may contribute to a ruminative thinking style, representing risk factors for developing depression later in life.

Characterising youth with callous-unemotional traits and concurrent anxiety: evidence for a high-risk clinical group.

Growing evidence supports the existence of two variants of youth with high callous-unemotional (CU) traits who present with markedly different risk profiles and outcomes, with potential implications for risk assessment and treatment formulation. So far, studies have identified variants of CU youth mainly using data-driven cluster approaches based on levels of CU traits and co-occurring anxiety. Yet, the extent to which this knowledge may be translated into clinical practice is unclear. To this end, the present study employed a severity-based, cut-off approach to systematically characterise CU groups across a range of clinically informative domains, including trauma history, psychiatric symptomatology, affective functioning, attachment style and behavioural risk. Analyses were based on multi-rated data from a community sample of high-risk youths (n = 155, M = 18 years). Consistent with previous studies, we found that, whereas variants show comparable levels of antisocial behaviour, those who present with both high CU and high anxiety report more severe childhood maltreatment, psychological distress, ADHD symptomatology and behavioural risk-including substance use, suicidal ideation and unsafe sex. In addition, these youth show greater attachment insecurity and affective dysregulation, as indexed by levels of irritability and alexithymia. Together, findings indicate that (1) trauma history is a key factor that differentiates variants of CU youth high vs. low on anxiety, and (2) differences in individual functioning across variants point to the need for tailored clinical assessment tools and intervention strategies. Importantly, the present findings indicate that variants of CU youth can be meaningfully differentiated using cut-off based approaches that parallel methods used in clinical assessments.

Trajectories of Callous-Unemotional Traits in Childhood Predict Different Forms of Peer Victimization in Adolescence.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of empathy and guilt) differentiate a group of children at particularly high risk for engaging in aggressive behavior, notably bullying. However, little is known about whether youths with CU traits are at risk for being victimized by their peers. We examined the associations between trajectories of CU traits in childhood (between 7 and 12 years old) and peer victimization in adolescence (14 years old). The participants were drawn from the Twins Early Development Study, a longitudinal population-based study of twins born in England and in Wales. The trajectories of CU traits (i.e., stable high, increasing, decreasing and stable low) were identified through general growth mixture modeling. Four forms of peer victimization were considered: physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property. We found that youths with stable high levels, increasing levels, and decreasing levels of CU traits in childhood had higher levels of physical victimization in adolescence, not explained by other predictors at age 7 (e.g., conduct problems). Youths with increasing levels of CU traits, compared with the ones with stable low levels, also had higher levels of verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property. Our findings highlight the importance of distinct trajectories of CU traits in accounting for the experience of different forms of peer victimization. Youths with CU traits may benefit from bullying prevention programs, as they are likely to be the targets of peer victimization.

Risk-taking, peer-influence and child maltreatment: a neurocognitive investigation.

Maltreatment is associated with increased risk of a range of psychiatric disorders, many of which are characterized by altered risk-taking propensity. Currently, little is known about the neural correlates of risk-taking in children exposed to maltreatment, nor whether their risk-taking is atypically modulated by peer influence. Seventy-five 10- to 14-year-old children [maltreated (MT) group: N = 41; non-maltreated Group (NMT): N = 34] performed a Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), under three different peer influence conditions: while alone, while being observed by a peer and while being encouraged by a peer to take risks. The MT group engaged in less risk-taking irrespective of peer influence. There was no differential effect of peer influence on risk-taking behaviour across groups. At the neural level, the right anterior insula (rAI) exhibited altered risk sensitivity across conditions in the MT group. Across groups and conditions, rAI risk sensitivity was negatively associated with risk-taking and within the MT group greater rAI risk sensitivity was related to more anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that children with a history of maltreatment show reduced risk-taking but typical responses to peer influence. Abnormal rAI functioning contributes to the pattern of reduced risk-taking and may predispose children exposed to maltreatment to develop future psychopathology.

A neurocomputational investigation of reinforcement-based decision making as a candidate latent vulnerability mechanism in maltreated children.

Alterations in reinforcement-based decision making may be associated with increased psychiatric vulnerability in children who have experienced maltreatment. A probabilistic passive avoidance task and a model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging analytic approach were implemented to assess the neurocomputational components underlying decision making: (a) reinforcement expectancies (the representation of the outcomes associated with a stimulus) and (b) prediction error signaling (the ability to detect the differences between expected and actual outcomes). There were three main findings. First, the maltreated group (n = 18; mean age = 13), relative to nonmaltreated peers (n = 19; mean age = 13), showed decreased activity during expected value processing in a widespread network commonly associated with reinforcement expectancies representation, including the striatum (especially the caudate), the orbitofrontal cortex, and medial temporal structures including the hippocampus and insula. Second, consistent with previously reported hyperresponsiveness to negative cues in the context of childhood abuse, the maltreated group showed increased prediction error signaling in the middle cingulate gyrus, somatosensory cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and thalamus. Third, the maltreated group showed increased activity in frontodorsal regions and in the putamen during expected value representation. These findings suggest that early adverse environments disrupt the development of decision-making processes, which in turn may compromise psychosocial functioning in ways that increase latent vulnerability to psychiatric disorder.

Reduced Laughter Contagion in Boys at Risk for Psychopathy.

Humans are intrinsically social animals, forming enduring affiliative bonds [1]. However, a striking minority with psychopathic traits, who present with violent and antisocial behaviors, tend to value other people only insofar as they contribute to their own advancement [2, 3]. Extant research has addressed the neurocognitive processes associated with aggression in such individuals, but we know remarkably little about processes underlying their atypical social affiliation. This is surprising, given the importance of affiliation and bonding in promoting social order and reducing aggression [4, 5]. Human laughter engages brain areas that facilitate social reciprocity and emotional resonance, consistent with its established role in promoting affiliation and social cohesion [6-8]. We show that, compared with typically developing boys, those at risk for antisocial behavior in general (irrespective of their risk of psychopathy) display reduced neural response to laughter in the supplementary motor area, a premotor region thought to facilitate motor readiness to join in during social behavior [9-11]. Those at highest risk for developing psychopathy additionally show reduced neural responses to laughter in the anterior insula. This region is implicated in auditory-motor processing and in linking action tendencies with emotional experience and subjective feelings [10, 12, 13]. Furthermore, this same group reports reduced desire to join in with the laughter of others-a behavioral profile in part accounted for by the attenuated anterior insula response. These findings suggest that atypical processing of laughter could represent a novel mechanism that impoverishes social relationships and increases risk for psychopathy and antisocial behavior.

Autobiographical memory: a candidate latent vulnerability mechanism for psychiatric disorder following childhood maltreatment.

BackgroundAltered autobiographical memory (ABM) functioning has been implicated in the pathogenesis of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and may represent one mechanism by which childhood maltreatment elevates psychiatric risk.AimsTo investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment on ABM functioning.MethodThirty-four children with documented maltreatment and 33 matched controls recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally valenced cue words during functional magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsChildren with maltreatment experience showed reduced hippocampal and increased middle temporal and parahippocampal activation during positive ABM recall compared with peers. During negative ABM recall they exhibited increased amygdala activation, and greater amygdala connectivity with the salience network.ConclusionsChildhood maltreatment is associated with altered ABM functioning, specifically reduced activation in areas encoding specification of positive memories, and greater activation of the salience network for negative memories. This pattern may confer latent vulnerability to future depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.