Abstract
Adversity in early life, such as childhood abuse, neglect, and loss, is a well-established major risk factor for developing a range of psychiatric and medical disorders later in life. Biological embedding of maltreatment during development is thought to underlie this long-term increased risk. Our results suggest that childhood trauma in humans is associated with sensitization of the stress response, glucocorticoid resistance, decreased oxytocin activity, inflammation, reduced hippocampal volume, and changes in cortical fields that are implicated in the perception or processing of the abuse. The consequences of childhood trauma are moderated by genetic factors and mediated by epigenetic changes in genes relevant for stress regulation. Understanding longitudinal trajectories of biological embedding, and their moderation by gene–environment interaction, is critical to enable us to design novel interventions that directly reverse these processes and to derive biomarkers that identify children who are at risk to develop disorders or are susceptible to a specific intervention.
Prepared for: Proceedings of the Third Conference of the Penn State Child Maltreatment Solutions Network. New Frontiers in the Biology of Stress Maltreatment and Trauma. Jennie Noll, Ph.D. (Ed.).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Anacker, C., O’Donnell, K. J., & Meaney, M. J. (2014). Early life adversity and the epigenetic programming of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 16(3), 321–333.
Andersen, S. L., Tomoda, A., Vincow, E. S., Valente, E., Polcari, A., & Teicher, M. H. (2008). Preliminary evidence for sensitive periods in the effect of childhood sexual abuse on regional brain development. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 20, 292–301.
Appel, K., Schwahn, C., Mahler, J., Schulz, A., Spitzer, C., Fenske, K., … Grabe, H. J. (2011). Moderation of adult depression by a polymorphism in the FKBP5 gene and childhood physical abuse in the general population. Neuropsychopharmacology, 36, 1982–1991.
Bernstein, D. P., Stein, J. A., Newcomb, M. D., Walker, E., Pogge, D., Ahluvalia, T., … Zule, W. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the childhood trauma questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27(2), 169–190.
Bet, P. M., Penninx, B. W., Bochdanovits, Z., Uitterlinden, A. G., Beekman, A. T., van Schoor, N. M., … Hoogendijk, W. J. (2009). Glucocorticoid receptor gene polymorphisms and childhood adversity are associated with depression: New evidence for a gene-environment interaction. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 150B, 660–669.
Bierhaus, A., Wolf, J., Andrassy, M., Rohleder, N., Humpert, P. M., Petrov, D., … Nawroth, P. P. (2003). A mechanism converting psychosocial stress into mononuclear cell activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 100(4), 1920–1925.
Binder, E. B., Bradley, R. G., Liu, W., Epstein, M. P., Deveau, T. C., Mercer, K. B., … Ressler, K. J. (2008). Association of FKBP5 polymorphisms and childhood abuse with risk of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in adults. JAMA, 299, 1291–1305.
Bogdan, R., Williamson, D. E., & Hariri, A. R. (2012). Mineralocorticoid receptor Iso/Val (rs5522) genotype moderates the association between previous childhood emotional neglect and amygdala reactivity. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 515–522.
Bradley, B., Westen, D., Binder, E. B., Jovanovic, T., & Heim, C. (2011). Association between childhood maltreatment and adult emotional dysregulation: Moderation by oxytocin receptor gene. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 87–100.
Bradley, R., Binder, E. B., Epstein, M. P., Tang, Y., Nair, H. P., Liu, W., & Ressler, K. J. (2008). Influence of child abuse on adult depression: Moderation by the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 190–200.
Burghy, C. A., Stodola, D. E., Ruttle, P. L., Molloy, E. K., Armstrong, J. M., Oler, J. A., … Birn, R. M. (2012). Developmental pathways to amygdala-prefrontal function and internalizing symptoms in adolescence. Nature Neuroscience, 15(12), 1736–1741.
Carpenter, L. L., Gawuga, C. E., Tyrka, A. R., Lee, J. K., Anderson, G. M., & Price, L. H. (2010). Association between plasma IL-6 response to acute stress and early-life adversity in healthy adults. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(13), 2617–2623.
Carpenter, L. L., Shattuck, T. T., Tyrka, A. R., Geracioti, T. D., & Price, L. H. (2011). Effect of childhood physical abuse on cortisol stress response. Psychopharmacology, 214(1), 367–375.
Caspi, A., Sugden, K., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W., Harrington, H., … Poulton, R. (2003). Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. Science, 301, 386–389.
Danese, A., Moffitt, T. E., Pariante, C. M., MRCPsych, Ambler, A., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2008). Elevated inflammation levels in depressed adults with a history of childhood maltreatment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 409–415.
Dannlowski, U., Kugel, H., Huber, F., Stuhrmann, A., Redlich, R., Grotegerd, D., … Suslow, T. (2013). Childhood maltreatment is associated with an automatic negative emotion processing bias in the amygdala. Human Brain Mapping, 34(11), 2899–2909.
Dannlowski, U., Stuhrmann, A., Beutelmann, V., Zwanzger, P., Lenzen, T., Grotegerd, D., & Kugel, H. (2012). Limbic scars: Long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment revealed by functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging. Biological Psychiatry, 71(4), 286–293.
De Bellis, M. D., Hooper, S. R., Woolley, D. P., & Shenk, C. E. (2010). Demographic, maltreatment, and neurobiological correlates of PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 35(5), 570–577.
Elbert, T., Pantev, C., Wienbruch, C., Rockstroh, B., & Taub, E. (1995). Increased cortical representation of the fingers of the left hand in string players. Science, 270(5234), 305–307.
Fang, X., Brown, D. S., Florence, C. S., & Mercy, J. A. (2012). The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(2), 156–165.
Frodl, T., Reinhold, E., Koutsouleris, N., Reiser, M., & Meisenzahl, E. M. (2010). Interaction of childhood stress with hippocampus and prefrontal cortex volume reduction in major depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 44(13), 799–807.
Gatt, J. M., Nemeroff, C. B., Dobson-Stone, C., Paul, R. H., Bryant, R. A., Schofield, P. R., … Williams, L. M. (2009). Interactions between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and early life stress predict brain and arousal pathways to syndromal depression and anxiety. Molecular Psychiatry, 14, 681–695.
Govindan, R. M., Behen, M. E., Helder, E., Makki, M. I., & Chugani, H. T. (2010). Altered water diffusivity in cortical association tracts in children with early deprivation identified with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Cerebral Cortex, 20(3), 561–569.
Grant, M. M., Cannistraci, C., Hollon, S. D., Gore, J., & Shelton, R. (2011). Childhood trauma history differentiates amygdala response to sad faces within MDD. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(7), 886–895.
Grant, M. M., White, D., Hadley, J., Hutcheson, N., Shelton, R., Sreenivasan, K., & Deshpande, G. (2014). Early life trauma and directional brain connectivity within major depression. Human Brain Mapping, 35(9), 4815–4826.
Hammen, C., Henry, R., & Daley, S. E. (2000). Depression and sensitization to stressors among young women as a function of childhood adversity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 782–787.
Heim, C., Mletzko, T., Purselle, D., Musselman, D. L., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2008). The dex/corticotropin-releasing factor test in men with major depression: Role of childhood trauma. Biological Psychiatry, 63, 398–405.
Heim, C., Newport, D. J., Heit, S., Graham, Y. P., Wilcox, M., Bonsall, R., … Nemeroff, C. B. (2000). Pituitary-adrenal and autonomic responses to stress in women after sexual and physical abuse in childhood. JAMA, 284, 592–597.
Heim, C., Newport, D. J., Mletzko, T., Miller, A. H., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2008). The link between childhood trauma and depression: Insights from HPA axis studies in humans. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33, 693–710.
Heim, C., Newport, D. J., Wagner, D., Wilcox, M. M., Miller, A. H., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2002). The role of early adverse experience and adulthood stress in the prediction of neuroendocrine stress reactivity in women: A multiple regression analysis. Depression and Anxiety, 15(3), 117–125.
Heim, C., Young, L. J., Newport, D. J., Mletzko, T., Miller, A. H., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2009). Lower CSF oxytocin concentrations in women with a history of childhood abuse. Molecular Psychiatry, 14, 954–958.
Heim, C. M., Mayberg, H. S., Mletzko, T., Nemeroff, C. B., & Pruessner, J. C. (2013). Decreased cortical representation of genital somatosensory field after childhood sexual abuse. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(6), 616–623.
Heuser, I., Yassouridis, A., & Holsboer, F. (1994). The combined dexamethasone/CRH test: A refined laboratory test for psychiatric disorders. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 28(4), 341–356.
Holsboer, F., Lauer, C. J., Schreiber, W., & Krieg, J. C. (1995). Altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical regulation in healthy subjects at high familial risk for affective disorders. Neuroendocrinology, 62(4), 340–347.
Jaenisch, R., & Bird, A. (2003). Epigenetic regulation of gene expression: How the genome integrates intrinsic and environmental signals. Nature Genetics, 33(Suppl), 245–254.
Karg, K., Burmeister, M., Shedden, K., & Sen, S. (2011). The serotonin transporter promoter variant (5-HTTLPR), stress, and depression meta-analysis revisited: Evidence of genetic moderation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 444–454.
Kaufman, J., Yang, B. Z., Douglas-Palumberi, H., Grasso, D., Lipschitz, D., Houshyar, S., … Gelernter, J. (2006). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor-5-HTTLPR gene interactions and environmental modifiers of depression in children. Biological Psychiatry, 59, 673–680.
Klengel, T., Mehta, D., Anacker, C., Rex-Haffner, M., Pruessner, J. C., Pariante, C. M., … Binder, E. B. (2013). Allele-specific FKBP5 DNA demethylation mediates gene-childhood trauma interactions. Nature Neuroscience, 16(1), 33–41.
Labonté, B., Suderman, M., Maussion, G., Lopez, J. P., Navarro-Sánchez, L., Yerko, V., … Turecki, G. (2013). Genome-wide methylation changes in the brains of suicide completers. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(5), 511–520.
Ladd, C. O., Huot, R. L., Thrivikraman, K. V., Nemeroff, C. B., Meaney, M. J., & Plotsky, P. M. (2000). Long-term behavioral and neuroendocrine adaptations to adverse early experience. Progress in Brain Research, 122, 81–103.
Lupien, S., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M., & Heim, C. (2009a). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience., 10(6), 434–445.
Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009b). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10, 434–445.
Maguire, E. A., Gadian, D. G., Johnsrude, I. S., Good, C. D., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., & Frith, C. D. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 97(8), 4398–4403.
McGowan, P. O., Sasaki, A., D'Alessio, A. C., Dymov, S., Labonté, B., Szyf, M., … Meaney, M. J. (2009). Epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor in human brain associates with childhood abuse. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 342–348.
Meaney, M. J. (2001). Maternal care, gene expression, and the transmission of individual differences in stress reactivity across generations. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 1161–1192.
Mehta, D., Klengel, T., Conneely, K. N., Smith, A. K., Altmann, A., Pace, T. W., … Binder, E. B. (2013). Type of trauma matters: Childhood maltreatment is associated with distinct genomic and epigenetic profiles in posttraumatic stress disorder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(20), 8302–8307.
Murgatroyd, C., Patchev, A. V., Wu, Y., Micale, V., Bockmühl, Y., Fischer, D., … Spengler, D. (2009). Dynamic DNA methylation programs persistent adverse effects of early-life stress. Nature Neuroscience, 12(12), 1559–1566.
Norman, R. E., Byambaa, M., De, R., Butchart, A., Scott, J., & Vos, T. (2012). The long-term health consequences of child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 9(11), e1001349.
Pluess, M., & Belsky, J. (2013). Vantage sensitivity: Individual differences in response to positive experiences. Psychological Bulletin, 139(4), 901–916.
Polanczyk, G., Caspi, A., Williams, B., Price, T. S., Danese, A., Sugden, K., … Moffitt, T. E. (2009). Protective effect of CRHR1 gene variants on the development of adult depression following childhood maltreatment: Replication and extension. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 978–985.
Provençal, N., & Binder, E. B. (2015). The effects of early life stress on the epigenome: From the womb to adulthood and even before. Experimental Neurology, 268, 10–20.
Ptak, C., & Petronis, A. (2010). Epigenetic approaches to psychiatric disorders. Dialogues in Clinic Neuroscience, 12(1), 25–35.
Rao, U., Hammen, C., Ortiz, L. R., Chen, L. A., & Poland, R. E. (2008). Effects of early and recent adverse experiences on adrenal response to psychosocial stress in depressed adolescents. Biological Psychiatry, 64, 521–526.
Ressler, K., Bradley, B., Mercer, K. B., Deveau, T. C., Smith, A. K., Gillespie, C. F., … Binder, E. B. (2010). Polymorphisms in CRHR1 and serotonin transporter loci: Gene-gene-environment interactions on depressive symptoms. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 153B(3), 812–824.
Ressler, K. J., & Mayberg, H. S. (2007). Targeting abnormal neural circuits in mood and anxiety disorders: From the laboratory to the clinic. Nature Neuroscience, 10(9), 1116–1124.
Roth, T. L., Lubin, F. D., Funk, A. J., & Sweatt, J. D. (2009). Lasting epigenetic influence of early-life adversity on the BDNF gene. Biological Psychiatry, 65(9), 760–769.
Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care; Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246.
Stein, M. B., Koverola, C., Hanna, C., Torchia, M. G., & McClarty, B. (1997). Hippocampal volume in women victimized by childhood sexual abuse. Psychological Medicine, 27, 951–959.
Teicher, M. H., Anderson, C. M., & Polcari, A. (2012). Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced volume in the hippocampal subfields CA3, dentate gyrus, and subiculum. PNAS, 109, E563–E572.
Teicher, M. H., Samson, J. A., Anderson, C. M., & Ohashi, K. (2016). The effects of childhood maltreatment on brain structure, function and connectivity. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 17(10), 652–666.
Tomoda, A., Polcari, A., Anderson, C. M., & Teicher, M. H. (2012). Reduced visual cortex gray matter volume and thickness in young adults who witnessed domestic violence during childhood. PLoS One, 7(12), e52528.
Tomoda, A., Sheu, Y. S., Rabi, K., Suzuki, H., Navalta, C. P., Polcari, A., & Teicher, M. H. (2011). Exposure to parental verbal abuse is associated with increased gray matter volume in superior temporal gyrus. NeuroImage, 54(Suppl 1), S280–S286.
Tomoda, A., Suzuki, H., Rabi, K., Sheu, Y. S., Polcari, A., & Teicher, M. H. (2009). Reduced prefrontal cortical gray matter volume in young adults exposed to harsh corporal punishment. NeuroImage, 47(Suppl 2), T66–T71.
Tottenham, N., Hare, T. A., Millner, A., Gilhooly, T., Zevin, J. D., & Casey, B. J. (2011). Elevated amygdala response to faces following early deprivation. Developmental Science, 14(2), 190–204.
Tottenham, N., Hare, T. A., Quinn, B. T., McCarry, T. W., Nurse, M., Gilhooly, T., … Casey, B. J. (2010). Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation. Developmental Science, 13(1), 46–61.
Tottenham, N., & Sheridan, M. A. (2009). A review of adversity, the amygdala and the hippocampus: A consideration of developmental timing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 3, 68.
Treadway, M. T., Grant, M. M., Ding, Z., Hollon, S. D., Gore, J. C., & Shelton, R. C. (2009). Early adverse events, HPA activity and rostral anterior cingulate volume in MDD. PLoS One, 4, e4887.
Tyrka, A. R., Price, L. H., Gelernter, J., Schepker, C., Anderson, G. M., & Carpenter, L. L. (2009). Interaction of childhood maltreatment with the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor gene: Effects on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity. Biological Psychiatry, 66, 681–685.
Tyrka, A. R., Price, L. H., Marsit, C., Walters, O. C., & Carpenter, L. L. (2012). Childhood adversity and epigenetic modulation of the leukocyte glucocorticoid receptor: Preliminary findings in healthy adults. PLoS One, 7, e30148.
Ulrich-Lai, Y. M., & Herman, J. P. (2009). Neural regulation of endocrine and autonomic stress responses. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 10(6), 397–409.
van Harmelen, A. L., van Tol, M. J., van der Wee, N. J., Veltman, D. J., Aleman, A., Spinhoven, P., … Elzinga, B. M. (2010). Reduced medial prefrontal cortex volume in adults reporting childhood emotional maltreatment. Biological Psychiatry, 68, 832–838.
Vythilingam, M., Heim, C., Newport, J., Miller, A. H., Anderson, E., Bronen, R., & Douglas Bremner, J. (2002). Childhood trauma associated with smaller hippocampal volume in women with major depression. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 2072–2080.
Weaver, I. C., Cervoni, N., Champagne, F. A., D'Alessio, A. C., Sharma, S., Seckl, J. R., … Meaney, M. J. (2004). Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nature Neuroscience, 7(8), 847–854.
Wiesel, T. N., & Hubel, D. H. (1963). Single-cell response in striate cortex of kittens deprived of vision in one eye. Journal of Neurophysiology, 26, 1003–1017.
Wildeman, C., Emanuel, N., Leventhal, J. M., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Waldfogel, J., & Lee, H. (2014). The prevalence of confirmed maltreatment among US children, 2004 to 2011. JAMA Pediatrics, 168(8), 706–713.
Acknowledgments
Dr. Heim’s work is being funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education (01KR1301,01GL1743) and the National Institutes of Health (P50HD089922) as well as the Jacobs Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Heim, C. (2018). Psychobiological Consequences of Child Maltreatment. In: Noll, J., Shalev, I. (eds) The Biology of Early Life Stress. Child Maltreatment Solutions Network. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72589-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72589-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72588-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72589-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)