Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Feb 28;16(1):46-56.
doi: 10.9758/cpn.2018.16.1.46.

Hippocampal Subfields Volume Reduction in High Schoolers with Previous Verbal Abuse Experiences

Sang Won Lee  1   2 , Jae Hyun Yoo  1 , Ko Woon Kim  1 , Dongchan Kim  3 , HyunWook Park  3 , Jeewook Choi  4 , Martin H Teicher  5   6 , Bumseok Jeong  1   7
Affiliations

Hippocampal Subfields Volume Reduction in High Schoolers with Previous Verbal Abuse Experiences

Sang Won Lee et al. Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. .

Abstract

Objective: Reduced hippocampal volume and alterations in white matter tracts have been frequently reported in adults having the history of emotional maltreatment. We investigated whether these structural change occur in adolescents with previous verbal abuse (VA) experiences.

Methods: Hippocampal subfield volume and white matter structural connectivity measures were assessed in 31 first year male high school students with various degrees of exposure to parental and peer VA.

Results: The high VA group showed significant volume reduction in the left cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and left subiculum compared to the low VA group (p＜0.05). Volumes of left hippocampal subfields CA1 and subiculum were negatively correlated with previous VA experiences (p＜0.05). Increased mean diffusivity (MD) of the splenium of the corpus callosum was related to high VA score across all subjects (p＜0.05). There was an inverse relationship between volume of the CA1 and subiculum and MD of the splenium (p＜0.05).

Conclusion: Exposure to parental and peer VA may affect development of the left hippocampal subfields and the splenium of corpus callosum. These structural alterations can be discernible during adolescence.

Keywords: Adolescent; Diffusion tensor imaging; Hippocampus; Parenting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scatterplot of the Verbal Abuse Questionnaire (VAQ) scores in the subjects. The dashed line represents the cutoff point 40 of the VAQ.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Regression graph showed relationships between the volumes of left hippocampal subfields and peer Verbal Abuse Questionnaire (VAQ) scores. CA, cornu ammonis; DG, dentate gyrus. *p<0.1, †p<0.05 (in partial correlation analysis).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The white matter region that showed a positive correlation with total Verbal Abuse Questionnaire (VAQ) scores. The mean diffusivity of splenium of corpus callosum and right posterior corona radiata showed a significant positive relationship with total VAQ scores (corrected p<0.05). Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinates were X=28, Y=−55, Z=23. The background images are MNI152 templates.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Green JG, McLaughlin KA, Berglund PA, Gruber MJ, Sampson NA, Zaslavsky AM, et al. Childhood adversities and adult psychiatric disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication I: associations with first onset of DSM-IV disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67:113–123. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.186. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vachon DD, Krueger RF, Rogosch FA, Cicchetti D. Assessment of the harmful psychiatric and behavioral effects of different forms of child maltreatment. JAMA Psychiatry. 2015;72:1135–1142. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1792. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bremner JD, Randall P, Vermetten E, Staib L, Bronen RA, Mazure C, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging-based measurement of hippocampal volume in posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood physical and sexual abuse--a preliminary report. Biol Psychiatry. 1997;41:23–32. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00162-X. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vythilingam M, Heim C, Newport J, Miller AH, Anderson E, Bronen R, et al. Childhood trauma associated with smaller hippocampal volume in women with major depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159:2072–2080. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.12.2072. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Weniger G, Lange C, Sachsse U, Irle E. Reduced amygdala and hippocampus size in trauma-exposed women with borderline personality disorder and without posttraumatic stress disorder. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2009;34:383–388. - PMC - PubMed