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Cited by 114Child Abuse and TraumaNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorStress Responses and Cortisol

History of childhood adversity is positively associated with ventral striatal dopamine responses to amphetamine

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Oswald, Lynn M., Wand, Gary S., Kuwabara, Hiroto, Wong, Dean F., Zhu, Shijun, Brasic, James R.·2014·Psychopharmacology
DOI 10.1007/s00213-013-3407-zPMC PMC4040334
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Abstract

Rationale Childhood exposure to severe or chronic trauma is an important risk factor for the later development of adult mental health problems, such as substance abuse. Even in nonclinical samples of healthy adults, persons with a history of significant childhood adversity seem to experience greater psychological distress than those without this history. Evidence from rodent studies suggests that early life stress may impair dopamine function in ways that increase risks for drug abuse. However, the degree to which these findings translate to other species remains unclear. Objectives This study was conducted to examine associations between childhood adversity and dopamine and subjective responses to amphetamine in humans. Methods Following intake assessment, 28 healthy male and female adults, aged 18-29 years, underwent two consecutive 90-min positron emission tomography studies with high specific activity [(11)C]raclopride. The first scan was preceded by intravenous saline; the second by amphetamine (AMPH 0.3 mg/kg). Results Consistent with prior literature, findings showed positive associations between childhood trauma and current levels of perceived stress. Moreover, greater number of traumatic events and higher levels of perceived stress were each associated with higher ventral striatal dopamine responses to AMPH. Findings of mediation analyses further showed that a portion of the relationship between childhood trauma and dopamine release may be mediated by perceived stress. Conclusions Overall, results are consistent with preclinical findings suggesting that early trauma may lead to enhanced sensitivity to psychostimulants and that this mechanism may underlie increased vulnerability for drug abuse.

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  • In Oswald et al., availability of the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) has been associated with childhood trauma and pleasant drug (amphetamine) effects.

    “For example, in a study by Oswald and colleagues, the availability of the dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) has been associated with childhood trauma and pleasant drug (amphetamine) effects.”

    From Epigenetic Modifications in Stress Response Genes Associated With Childhood Trauma (2019) · cites this paper as [282]

    The Results (§3.2, page not available) associate childhood trauma with ventral-striatal D2 receptor availability, with a significant gender interaction. They separately report a gender-dependent relationship between childhood trauma and pleasant amphetamine effects, but do not establish an association between D2 receptor availability and those pleasant effects. The gender-stratified findings for pleasant effects were not significant. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • In males, there was a positive association between childhood trauma and pleasant drug effects but not in females.

    “In males, there was a positive association between childhood trauma and pleasant drug effects but not in females (282), which suggests that there may be by sex differences in the reward pathway after childhood trauma (283).”

    From Epigenetic Modifications in Stress Response Genes Associated With Childhood Trauma (2019) · cites this paper as [282]

    Results §3.2.3 reports a significant interaction between childhood-trauma scores and gender for pleasant drug effects, with a positive direction in males and a negative direction in females. However, neither gender-stratified association was statistically significant, so the claim overstates the positive association in males and omits the negative trend in females. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • One study found positive associations between childhood trauma and amphetamine-induced dopamine release, which may be due to cross-sensitization.

    “One study (Oswald et al., 2014) found positive associations between childhood trauma and amphetamine-induced dopamine release, which may be due to the phenomenon of cross-sensitization.”

    From The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response (2019) · cites this paper as Oswald et al., 2014

  • Previous studies in humans have investigated childhood factors alone.

    “Furthermore, previous studies (Egerton et al., 2016; Oswald et al., 2014; Pruessner et al., 2004) in humans have investigated childhood factors alone.”

    From The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response (2019) · cites this paper as Oswald et al., 2014

  • Findings of increased ventral striatal dopamine release in response to psychosocial stress in humans who reported insufficient early life maternal care, and positive associations between childhood adversity and amphetamine-induced dopamine release, are not consistent with these results.

    “Yet, findings of increased ventral striatal dopamine release in response to psychosocial stress in humans who reported insufficient early life maternal care (Pruessner et al., 2004), and positive associations between childhood adversity and amphetamine-induced dopamine release are not consistent with these results (Oswald et al., 2014).”

    From The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response (2019) · cites this paper as Oswald et al., 2014

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Ashburner J Friston KJ 2003 Rigid body registration Frackowiak RSJ Friston KJ Frith C Dolan R Price CJ Zeki S Ashburner J Penny WD Human Brain Function Academic Press 635 654
  2. First MB Spitzer RL Gibbon M Williams JBW 2002 Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Non-patient Edition Biometrics Research New York State Psychiatric Institute New York
  3. Kendler KS Bulik CM Silberg J Hettema JM Myers J Prescott CA 2000 Childhood sexual abuse and adult psychiatric and substance use disorders in women: an epidemiological and cotwin control analysis Arch Gen Psychiatry 57 953 959 11015813
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  5. Sobell LC Sobell MB 1992 Timeline followback: A technique for assessing self-reported alcohol consumption Litten RZ Allen J Measuring alcohol consumption: Psychosocial and biological methods Humana Press New Jersey 41 72

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Authors
Oswald, L. M., Wand, G. S., Kuwabara, H., Wong, D. F., Zhu, S., & Brasic, J. R.
Affiliations
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
  • Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Oswald, Lynn M.
ORCID
Venue
Psychopharmacology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2014-01-22
Volume
231
Issue
12
Pages
2417-2433
ISSN
  • 0033-3158 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-2072
DOI
10.1007/s00213-013-3407-z
PMC
PMC4040334
OpenAlex
W2015292608
Cited by
114
References
163
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 1
FWCI
13.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH078175)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA022433)
  • National Center for Research Resources (M01RR016500)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
childhood adversity, childhood trauma, ventral striatum, dopamine release, amphetamine, psychostimulant sensitivity, perceived stress, early life stress, drug abuse vulnerability, [11C]raclopride PET
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Amphetamine, Central Nervous System Stimulants, Child Abuse, Dopamine, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Stress, Psychological, Radiopharmaceuticals, Raclopride, Positron-Emission Tomography, Young Adult, Ventral Striatum

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