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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Neuroimaging
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1450051

Exploring the Neural Link Between Childhood Maltreatment and Depression: A Default Mode Network rs-fMRI Study

Provisionally accepted
Jian Lin Jian Lin Jialing Huang Jialing Huang *Yun Wu Yun Wu *Linqi Zhou Linqi Zhou *Changyuan Qiao Changyuan Qiao *Jian Xie Jian Xie *Changchun Hu Changchun Hu *
  • Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is increasingly recognized as a significant risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD), yet the neural mechanisms underlying the connection between CM and depression are not fully understood. This study aims to deepen our understanding of this relationship through neuroimaging, exploring how CM correlates with depression.The study included 56 MDD patients (33 with CM experiences and 23 without) and 23 healthy controls. Participants were assessed for depression severity, CM experiences, and underwent resting-state functional MRI scans. Independent Component Analysis was used to examine differences in functional connectivity (FC) within the Default Mode Network (DMN) among the groups.Results: MDD patients with CM experiences exhibited significantly stronger functional connectivity in the left Superior Frontal Gyrus (SFG) and right Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) within the DMN compared to both MDD patients without CM experiences and healthy controls. FC in these regions positively correlated with Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scores. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis underscored the diagnostic value of FC in the SFG and ACC for identifying MDD related to CM. Additionally, MDD patients with CM experiences showed markedly reduced FC in the left medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) relative to MDD patients without CM experiences, correlating negatively with Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scores.Our findings suggest that increased FC in the ACC and SFG within the DMN is associated with CM in MDD patients. This enhanced connectivity in these brain regions is key to understanding the predisposition to depression related to CM.

    Keywords: Depression, childhood maltreatment, functional connectivity, independent component analysis (ICA), default mode network (DMN)

    Received: 16 Jun 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lin, Huang, Wu, Zhou, Qiao, Xie and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jialing Huang, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China
    Yun Wu, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China
    Linqi Zhou, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China
    Changyuan Qiao, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China
    Jian Xie, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China
    Changchun Hu, Affiliated Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Westlake University, hangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.