10.6084/m9.figshare.5697469.v1
Dahmen B.
Dahmen
B.
Puetz V.B.
Puetz
V.B.
Scharke W.
Scharke
W.
von Polier G.G.
von Polier G.G.
Herpertz-Dahlmann B.
Herpertz-Dahlmann
B.
Konrad K.
Konrad
K.
Supplementary Material for: Effects of Early-Life Adversity on Hippocampal Structures and Associated HPA Axis Functions
Karger Publishers
2017
Early-life adversity
Childhood maltreatment
Hippocampus
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
Children
2017-12-13 13:46:44
Journal contribution
https://karger.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Supplementary_Material_for_Effects_of_Early-Life_Adversity_on_Hippocampal_Structures_and_Associated_HPA_Axis_Functions/5697469
<p>Early-life adversity (ELA) is one of the major risk factors for
serious mental and physical health risks later in life. ELA has been
associated with dysfunctional neurodevelopment, especially in brain
structures such as the hippocampus, and with dysfunction of the stress
system, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
Children who have experienced ELA are also more likely to suffer from
mental health disorders such as depression later in life. The exact
interplay of aberrant neurodevelopment and HPA axis dysfunction as risks
for psychopathology is not yet clear. We investigated volume
differences in the bilateral hippocampus and in stress-sensitive
hippocampal subfields, behavior problems, and diurnal cortisol activity
in 24 children who had experienced documented ELA (including out-of-home
placement) in a circumscribed duration of adversity only in their first
3 years of life in comparison to data on 25 control children raised by
their biological parents. Hippocampal volumes and stress-sensitive
hippocampal subfields (Cornu ammonis [CA]1, CA3, and the granule-cell
layer of the dentate gyrus [GCL-DG]) were significantly smaller in
children who had experienced ELA, taking psychiatric diagnoses and
dimensional psychopathological symptoms into account. ELA moderated the
relationship between left hippocampal volume and cortisol: in the
control group, hippocampal volumes were not related to diurnal cortisol,
while in ELA children, a positive linear relationship between left
hippocampal volume and diurnal cortisol was present. Our findings show
that ELA is associated with altered development of the hippocampus, and
an altered relationship between hippocampal volume and HPA axis activity
in youth in care, even after they have lived in stable and caring
foster family environments for years. Altered hippocampal development
after ELA could thus be associated with a risk phenotype for the
development of psychiatric disorders later in life.</p>