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. 2019 Aug 7;10(1):1647044.
doi: 10.1080/20008198.2019.1647044. eCollection 2019.

Women with early maltreatment experience show increased resting-state functional connectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network

Sara Boccadoro  1 , Roma Siugzdaite  2 , Anna R Hudson  1 , Lien Maeyens  1 , Charlotte Van Hamme  1 , Sven C Mueller  1
Affiliations

Women with early maltreatment experience show increased resting-state functional connectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network

Sara Boccadoro et al. Eur J Psychotraumatol. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish, Chinese

Background: Experience of childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk for the development of psychopathology and is associated with impairments in socio-cognitive skills including theory-of-mind (ToM). In turn, neural alterations in ToM processing might then influence future interpersonal interaction and social-emotional understanding. Objective: To assess resting-state activity in the theory-of-mind network in traumatized and non-traumatized persons. Methods: Thirty-five women with a history of childhood maltreatment and 31 unaffected women completed a resting-state scan and a ToM localizer task. The peak coordinates from the localizer were used as the seed regions for the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses (temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and precuneus). Results: Child abuse was associated with increased RSFC between various ToM regions including the precuneus and the brainstem suggesting altered hierarchical processing in ToM regions. Number of types of abuse was driving the effect for the temporo-parietal junction and the brainstem, while the severity of abuse was linked to increased RSFC between the middle temporal gyrus and the frontal cortex. Post-hoc analyses of brainstem regions indicated the involvement of the serotonergic system (dorsal raphe). Conclusions: The data indicate a lasting impact of childhood maltreatment on the neural networks involved in social information processing that are integral to understanding others' emotional states. Indeed, such altered neural networks may account for some of the interpersonal difficulties victims of childhood maltreatment experience.

Antecedentes: La experiencia de maltrato infantil aumenta significativamente el riesgo del desarrollo de psicopatología y se encuentra asociado con deficiencia en las habilidades sociocognitivas, incluyendo la teoría-de-la-mente (ToM en su sigla en inglés). A su vez, las alteraciones neuronales en el procesamiento de la ToM podrían así influenciar las interacciones interpersonales futuras y el entendimiento socioemocional.Objetivo: Evaluar la actividad del estado de reposo en la red de la teoría-de-la-mente en personas traumatizadas y no traumatizadas.Métodos: Treinta y cinco mujeres con una historia de maltrato infantil y 31 mujeres no afectadas completaron un escáner en estado de reposo y una tarea localizadora de la ToM. Las coordenadas más altas del localizador fueron usadas como las regiones de origen para los análisis de la conectividad funcional del estado de descanso (RSFC en su sigla en inglés; incluyendo la unión temporoparietal, corteza prefrontal dorsomedial, giros cerebrales temporales medios, y precúneo).Resultados: El abuso infantil fue asociado con un incremento en la RSFC entre varias regiones de la ToM, incluyendo el precúneo y el tronco encefálico, sugiriendo una alteración en el procesamiento jerárquico en las regiones de la ToM. El número de los tipos de abuso estuvo dirigiendo el efecto de la unión temporoparietal y el tronco encefálico, mientras que la severidad del abuso se relacionó a una aumentada RSFC entre los giros cerebrales temporales medios y la corteza frontal. Los análisis post hoc de las regiones del tronco encefálico indicaron el rol del sistema serotoninérgico (rafe dorsal).Conclusiones: Los datos indican un impacto de largo plazo del maltrato infantil en las redes neuronales involucradas en el procesamiento de la información social que son fundamentales para el entendimiento de los estados emocionales de otros. De hecho, tales redes neuronales alteradas podrían ser responsables de algunas de las dificultades interpersonales que las víctimas de maltrato infantil experimentan.

背景：童年虐待的经历显著增加了精神病理发展的风险，并与社会认知功能损伤相关，其中包括心理理论（ToM）。反之，ToM加工中的神经改变可能会影响未来的人际交往和社会情感理解。目的：评估受创伤暴露者和未暴露者的心理理论网络静息态活动。方法：35名有儿童期虐待史的女性和31名未暴露的女性完成了静息态扫描和ToM定位任务。来自定位任务的峰值坐标用作静息态功能连接（RSFC）分析的种子区域（颞顶连接，背内侧前额叶皮层，中颞回和楔前叶）。结果：童年虐待与各个ToM区域（包括楔前叶和脑干）之间的RSFC增加有关，表明ToM区域的分层加工发生了改变。虐待类型的数量决定颞顶叶连接和脑干的效应，而虐待的严重程度与颞中回和额叶皮质之间的RSFC增加有关。脑干区域的事后分析表明这涉及5-羟色胺能系统（中缝背核）。结论：数据表明儿童期虐待对社会信息加工中涉及的神经网络有长期影响，而该网络是理解他人情绪状态不可或缺的因素。确实，这种改变的神经网络可能解释了童年虐待受害者中出现的一些人际关系困难。.

Keywords: Childhood abuse; functional connectivity; maltreatment; resting state; social cognition; theory of mind (ToM).

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Functional connectivity of seed regions (in larger font, corrected for multiple comparisons) with other brain areas (smaller font) for the Child abuse > Unaffected comparisons contrast. There were no areas for which Unaffected comparisons > Child abuse. TPJ = temporo-parietal junction; dmPFC = dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; MTG = middle temporal gyrus; R, right; L, left.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Correlation matrix (correlation coefficient, r) for the ToM to ToM region-of interest correlations for the trauma group (CA, left panel) and unaffected comparison group (UC, right panel) separately.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Functional connectivity of seed regions (in larger font, corrected for multiple comparisons) with other brain areas (smaller font) for the main effect of number of abuse on the CA group. TPJ = temporo-parietal junction; dmPFC = dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; STG = superior temporal gyrus; R, right; L, left.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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