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Cited by 215Child Abuse and TraumaAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsIntimate Partner and Family Violence

Reduced fractional anisotropy in the visual limbic pathway of young adults witnessing domestic violence in childhood

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Choi, Jeewook, Jeong, Bumseok, Polcari, Ann, Rohan, Michael L., Teicher, Martin H.·2012·NeuroImage
DOI 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.09.033PMC PMC3236680
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Abstract

Witnessing domestic violence (WDV) is a traumatic childhood experience associated with increased risk for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and reduced IQ scores. Specific affects of WDV on brain development have not been assessed. We sought to ascertain whether WDV was associated with abnormalities in white matter (WM) tract integrity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Twenty subjects who witnessed domestic violence (16F/4M, mean age 22.4 ± 2.48 years) but were not physically or sexually abused were compared to 27 healthy controls (19F/8M, 21.9 ± 1.97 years) without exposure to trauma or Axis I and II disorders. DTI images were acquired with a 3T Siemens Trio scanner. Group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), covaried by age, gender, parental education, perceived financial sufficiency, IQ and degree of exposure to parental verbal aggression were assessed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), which projects FA values onto an alignment-invariant fiber tract representation. FA values in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus of left lateral occipital lobe were significantly lower (P<0.05 corrected for multiple comparison) in the WDV group. FA values correlated inversely with ratings of depression, anxiety, somatization, 'limbic irritability' and neuropsychological measures of processing speed. Measures of radial but not axial diffusivity were affected suggesting alterations in myelination. Degree of FA reduction was associated with duration of witnessing interparental verbal aggression and with exposure between ages 7 and 13 years. The inferior longitudinal fasciculus connects occipital and temporal cortex and is the main component of the visual-limbic pathway that subserves emotional, learning and memory functions that are modality specific to vision. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to childhood maltreatment is associated with alterations in fiber pathways that convey the adverse experience to frontal, temporal or limbic regions.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.09.033

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  • Exposure to verbal disputes between parents was a stronger predictor of attenuation in the size of inferior longitudinal fasciculus than inter-parental physical violence.

    “Most importantly, however, exposure to verbal disputes between parents was a stronger predictor of attenuation in the size of inferior longitudinal fasciculus than inter-parental physical violence.”

    From A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (2014) · cites this paper as Choi et al., 2012

    The Results (§3.2; page not provided) find that exposure to interparental verbal aggression without physical violence had the strongest association with changes in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. The measured change was reduced fractional anisotropy, however, not attenuation in the tract’s size. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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  • Verbal abuse appears to be a powerful modifying factor for neural development in the young brain regardless of whether the child is the target of peer or parental verbal abuse, or witnesses domestic verbal conflicts.

    “Although the harmful effects of child maltreatment are typically defined in terms of physical or sexual harassment and emotional neglect, verbal abuse appears to be a powerful modifying factor for neural development in the young brain regardless of whether the child is the target of peer (Teicher et al., 2010) or parental (Choi et al., 2012) verbal abuse, or witnesses domestic verbal conflicts (Ch”

    From A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (2014) · cites this paper as Choi et al., 2012

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that a separate study found white-matter differences in people exposed to parental verbal abuse, so the paper does speak to that part of the claim. But this study examined witnessing interparental conflict and controlled for parental verbal abuse rather than testing its independent effect; it does not itself establish the claim about children targeted by parental verbal abuse. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Delayed effects of early adverse experiences on health and well-being are mediated through various neuroanatomical, neuroendocrine, and epigenetic factors.

    “Delayed effects of early adverse experiences on health and well-being are mediated through various neuroanatomical (Choi, Jeong, Polcari, Rohan, & Teicher, 2012), neuroendocrine (Engert et al., 2010; Sturge-Apple, Davies, Cicchetti, & Manning, 2012), and epigenetic factors (Essex et al., 2013; McDermott, Dawes, Prom-Wormley, Eaves, & Hatemi, 2013).”

    From A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (2014) · cites this paper as Choi, Jeong, Polcari, Rohan, & Teicher, 2012

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that childhood exposure to intimate-partner violence is associated with changes in brain pathways and proposes these changes as a potential explanation for later psychiatric and neurocognitive symptoms. This supports the neuroanatomical part of the citing sentence, but the paper presents mediation as a potential mechanism, not an established one, and studies a specific early adverse experience rather than early adversity generally. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Reduction in the volume of both white and grey matter may alter the way the brain processes sensory information to increase the person's vulnerability to psychopathology.

    “Reduction in the volume of both the white (Choi et al., 2012) and grey matter (Teicher et al., 2010) may alter the way the brain processes sensory information to increase the person's vulnerability to psychopathology.”

    From A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (2014) · cites this paper as Choi et al., 2012

    The Results (section 3.2) report reduced fractional anisotropy in a white-matter tract, and the Discussion (section 4) suggests possible effects on visual processing and psychiatric outcomes. Choi et al. do not report a reduction in white-matter volume; their measure concerns tract integrity. The grey-matter citation is to a different source and is not judged here. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Symptoms of limbic irritability were associated with both IPV and inferior longitudinal fasciculus anatomy.

    “The authors found that symptoms of limbic irritability were associated with both IPV and inferior longitudinal fasciculus anatomy.”

    From A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE IMPACT OF EXPOSURE TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH (2014) · cites this paper as Choi et al., 2012

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. First MB Spitzer RL Gibbon M Williams JBW 1997 Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders - clinician version (SCID-CV) American Psychiatric Press Washington, DC

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Authors
Choi, J., Jeong, B., Polcari, A., Rohan, M. L., & Teicher, M. H.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Teicher, Martin H.
ORCID
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-01
Volume
59
Issue
2
Pages
1071-1079
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.09.033
PMC
PMC3236680
OpenAlex
W1992532948
Cited by
215
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 6
FWCI
8.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA-016934, DA-017846)
  • National Research Foundation of Korea
  • Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2010-0029266)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH-66222)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
Keywords
witnessing domestic violence, childhood trauma, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, fractional anisotropy, white matter integrity, depression, anxiety, somatization, processing speed, myelination, radial diffusivity, child abuse, brain development
MeSH terms
Child, Preschool, Humans, Limbic System, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Visual Pathways, Visual Perception, Anisotropy, Domestic Violence, Young Adult, Memory, Long-Term

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