Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 65, Issue 3, 1 February 2009, Pages 227-234
Biological Psychiatry

Archival Report
Preliminary Evidence for White Matter Tract Abnormalities in Young Adults Exposed to Parental Verbal Abuse

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.06.022Get rights and content

Background

Psychiatric sequelae of exposure to parental verbal abuse (PVA) appear to be comparable with that of nonfamilial sexual abuse and witnessing domestic violence. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to ascertain whether PVA was associated with abnormalities in white matter (WM) tract integrity.

Methods

1271 healthy young adults were screened for exposure to childhood adversity. Diffusion tensor imaging was collected on 16 unmedicated subjects with history of high-level exposure to PVA but no other form of maltreatment (4 male/12 female subjects, mean age 21.9 ± 2.4 years) and 16 healthy control subjects (5 male/11 female subjects, 21.0 ± 1.6 years). Group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), covaried by parental education and income, were assessed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS).

Results

Three WM tract regions had significantly reduced FA: 1) arcuate fasciculus in left superior temporal gyrus, 2) cingulum bundle by the posterior tail of the left hippocampus, and 3) the left body of the fornix. Fractional anisotropy in these areas was strongly associated with average PVA scores (rs = −.701, −.801, −.524, respectively) and levels of maternal verbal abuse. Across groups, FA in region 1 correlated with verbal IQ and verbal comprehension index. Fractional anisotropy in region 2 was inversely associated with ratings of depression, dissociation, and limbic irritability. Fractional anisotropy in region 3 was inversely correlated with ratings of somatization and anxiety.

Conclusions

Exposure to PVA may be associated with alteration in the integrity of neural pathways with implications for language development and psychopathology.

Section snippets

Participants and Screening

The McLean Hospital Institutional Review Board approved all procedures. The purpose and meaning of this study was explained to subjects, who provided written informed consent. To be eligible, subjects had to be between 18 and 25 years of age, right-handed, unmedicated, with a self-reported history of exposure to PVA but to no other form of early stress or trauma, or healthy control subjects without such exposure. Subjects were excluded who had a history of CSA, WDV, parental loss, neglect, or

Results

Tract-based spatial statistics identified three portions of the FA skeleton with reduced FA that exceeded preselected criteria for significance and voxel size. The largest and most significant portion [F(1, 26) = 29.12, p = .00001; voxel size = 49; MIN coordinates x = −44, y = −32, z = 3; Figure 1, Figure 2] was located in the left superior temporal gyrus and identified by tract tracing as the arcuate fasciculus. Fractional anisotropy values in this region, covaried for age, gender, parental

Discussion

This study provides preliminary evidence that exposure to PVA is associated with alteration in the integrity of neural pathways. Region 1 was located in the left superior temporal gyrus and appeared to consist of long association fibers constituting the arcuate fasciculus. Traditionally, the arcuate fasciculus is known as the fiber tract connecting Wernicke's area in the temporoparietal junction with Broca's area in the inferior frontal gyrus. Recent anatomical studies suggest that the arcuate

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