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Childhood trauma and amygdala nuclei volumes in youth at risk for mental illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2020

Nikita Nogovitsyn Open the ORCID record for Nikita Nogovitsyn [Opens in a new window] ,
Jean Addington ,
Roberto Souza ,
Thea J. Placsko ,
Jacqueline Stowkowy ,
JianLi Wang ,
Benjamin I. Goldstein ,
Signe Bray ,
Catherine Lebel  and
Valerie H. Taylor
...Show all authors
Nikita Nogovitsyn*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Jean Addington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Roberto Souza
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Thea J. Placsko
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Jacqueline Stowkowy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
JianLi Wang
Affiliation:
Work & Mental health Research Unit, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Benjamin I. Goldstein
Affiliation:
Centre for Youth Bipolar Disorder, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Signe Bray
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Child & Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Catherine Lebel
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Child & Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Valerie H. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Sidney H. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychiatry, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair in Suicide and Depression Studies, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Glenda MacQueen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
*
Author for correspondence: Nikita Nogovitsyn, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Adults with significant childhood trauma and/or serious mental illness may exhibit persistent structural brain changes within limbic structures, including the amygdala. Little is known about the structure of the amygdala prior to the onset of SMI, despite the relatively high prevalence of trauma in at-risk youth.

Methods

Data were gathered from the Canadian Psychiatric Risk and Outcome study. A total of 182 youth with a mean age of 18.3 years completed T1-weighted MRI scans along with clinical assessments that included questionnaires on symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants also completed the Childhood Trauma and Abuse Scale. We used a novel subfield-specific amygdala segmentation workflow as a part of FreeSurfer 6.0 to examine amygdala structure.

Results

Participants with higher trauma scores were more likely to have smaller amygdala volumes, particularly within the basal regions. Among various types of childhood trauma, sexual and physical abuse had the largest effects on amygdala subregions. Abuse-related differences in the right basal region mediated the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms, even though no participants met criteria for clinical diagnosis at the time of assessment.

Conclusion

The experience of physical or sexual abuse may leave detectable structural alterations in key regions of the amygdala, potentially mediating the risk of psychopathology in trauma-exposed youth.

Keywords

Adolescenceamygdalaanxietyclinical high riskdepressionrisktrauma
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 6 , April 2022 , pp. 1192 - 1199
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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