Cited by 249Child Abuse and TraumaStress Responses and CortisolAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Childhood maltreatment is associated with an automatic negative emotion processing bias in the amygdala

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Dannlowski, Udo, Kugel, Harald, Huber, Franziska, Stuhrmann, Anja, Redlich, Ronny, Grotegerd, Dominik, Dohm, Katharina, Sehlmeyer, Christina +6 more·2013·Human Brain Mapping

Abstract

Major depression has been repeatedly associated with amygdala hyper‐responsiveness to negative (but not positive) facial expressions at early, automatic stages of emotion processing using subliminally presented stimuli. However, it is not clear whether this “limbic bias” is a correlate of depression or represents a vulnerability marker preceding the onset of the disease. Because childhood maltreatment is a potent risk factor for the development of major depression in later life, we explored whether childhood maltreatment is associated with amygdalar emotion processing bias in maltreated but healthy subjects. Amygdala responsiveness to subliminally presented sad and happy faces was measured by means of fMRI at 3 T in N = 150 healthy subjects carefully screened for psychiatric disorders. Childhood maltreatment was assessed by the 25‐item childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ). A strong association of CTQ‐scores with amygdala responsiveness to sad, but not happy facial expressions emerged. This result was further qualified by an interaction of emotional valence and CTQ‐scores and was not confounded by trait anxiety, current depression level, age, gender, intelligence, education level, and more recent stressful life‐events. Childhood maltreatment is apparently associated with detectable changes in amygdala function during early stages of emotion processing which resemble findings described in major depression. Limbic hyper‐responsiveness to negative facial cues could be a consequence of the experience of maltreatment during childhood increasing the risk of depression in later life. Limitation: the present association of limbic bias and maltreatment was demonstrated in the absence of psychopathological abnormalities, thereby limiting strong conclusions. Hum Brain Mapp 34:2899–2909, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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  • Childhood trauma may influence the development of threat processing and emotion regulatory systems, contributing risk for affective disorders.

    “Many studies now suggest that childhood trauma may influence the development of threat processing and emotion regulatory systems, contributing risk for the emergence of affective disorders.”

    From Trauma, PTSD, and the Developing Brain (2017) · cites this paper as [42]

    The Discussion (around pp. 2904–2905) links childhood maltreatment to heightened amygdala responses to negative or threatening faces and suggests this may be a vulnerability factor for depression and other psychiatric disorders. It does not establish an effect on the development of emotion-regulatory systems; the study measured amygdala responses in healthy adults, not developmental change. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • Childhood trauma and adversity are associated with increased amygdala reactivity to negative stimuli and decreased resting functional coupling between amygdala and vmPFC.

    “childhood trauma and adversity are associated with increased amygdala reactivity particularly to negative stimuli (e.g. [38–47]) as well as decreased resting functional coupling between the amygdala and vmPFC [48,49].”

    From Trauma, PTSD, and the Developing Brain (2017) · cites this paper as [42]

  • ELS/CT is repeatedly associated with facial threat- or negative-emotion-related amygdala hyper-responsiveness.

    “However, findings are conclusive concerning amygdala responsiveness, as ELS/CT has been repeatedly associated with facial threat- or negative-emotion-related amygdala hyper-responsiveness (416, 417, 447, 448).”
  • Right amygdala structural alterations in adulthood are particularly linked to childhood maltreatment exposure.

    “Thus, right amygdala may be differentially responsive to negative or threatening stimuli (107–109), and alterations in structure (38, 109, 110) of the right amygdala in adulthood have been particularly related to exposure to childhood maltreatment.”
  • The right amygdala may respond differently to negative or threatening stimuli.

    “Thus, right amygdala may be differentially responsive to negative or threatening stimuli (107–109), and alterations in structure (38, 109, 110) of the right amygdala in adulthood have been particularly related to exposure to childhood maltreatment.”

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  1. [26]26. Ekman P, Friesen WV (1976): Pictures of Facial Affect. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.

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Authors
Dannlowski, U., Kugel, H., Huber, F., Stuhrmann, A., Redlich, R., Grotegerd, D., Dohm, K., Sehlmeyer, C., Konrad, C., Baune, B. T., Arolt, V., Heindel, W., Zwitserlood, P., & Suslow, T.
Affiliations
  • Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
  • University of Münster (DE)
  • The University of Adelaide (AU)
Venue
Human Brain Mapping
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2012-06-13
Volume
34
Issue
11
Pages
2899-2909
ISSN
  • 1065-9471 (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-0193
OpenAlex
W1915403575
Cited by
249
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 2
FWCI
17.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Human Brain Mapping (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
child abuse, amygdala, automatic emotion processing, major depressive disorder, emotional valence, childhood trauma
MeSH terms
Adult, Amygdala, Brain Mapping, Child, Child Abuse, Cues, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Depression, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Surveys and Questionnaires, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Social Perception, Socioeconomic Factors, Subliminal Stimulation, Echo-Planar Imaging, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Young Adult

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