Retrospectively reported childhood physical abuse, systemic inflammation, and resting corticolimbic connectivity in midlife adults.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational study relying on retrospective self-report
PubMed 31445966 · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2019.08.186
What was done
Researchers evaluated 303 midlife adults (aged 30–51 years; 149 women) without psychiatric, immune, or cardiovascular diagnoses. Participants completed retrospective self-reports of childhood physical abuse, underwent blood draws to quantify circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, and completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess functional connectivity across corticolimbic regions (amygdala, hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex [vmPFC], and anterior cingulate cortex). Path analyses were conducted to evaluate whether IL-6 mediated associations between childhood abuse and corticolimbic connectivity.
What was found
The abstract reports directional associations without providing numerical effect sizes, test statistics, or confidence intervals. Retrospectively reported childhood physical abuse was positively associated with circulating IL-6 and negatively associated with functional connectivity between the amygdala and vmPFC. Elevated IL-6 was negatively associated with several corticolimbic connections, including amygdala–vmPFC connectivity. Path analyses indicated an indirect effect of IL-6 that partially explained the association between childhood physical abuse and reduced amygdala–vmPFC connectivity.
Why it matters
This study identifies peripheral inflammatory signaling as a potential biological pathway through which early-life physical abuse may relate to altered corticolimbic brain circuit connectivity in adulthood.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional, precluding causal or temporal conclusions. Childhood physical abuse was assessed via retrospective self-report, introducing potential recall bias. The abstract omits all numerical values, effect sizes, and confidence intervals. Furthermore, the exclusion of individuals with psychiatric, immune, or cardiovascular diagnoses may limit generalizability.
Cited by
- supports Higher levels of systemic inflammation in the body and brain disrupt top-down functional connectivity from the prefrontal cortex to the amygdala.