Impact of early life adversities on human brain functioning: A coordinate-based meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Early life adversities (ELAs) are linked to neurodevelopmental alterations and increased psychopathology risk.
• Existing neuroimaging studies on ELAs show conflicting results, necessitating a comprehensive meta-analysis.
• ELAs encompass adverse pre- and postnatal experiences impacting brain structure and function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify convergent functional alterations in the brain associated with early life adversities (ELAs) using a coordinate-based meta-analysis.
• To resolve conflicting findings from individual neuroimaging studies on the effects of ELAs.
• To elucidate the neurobiological underpinnings of vulnerability to psychopathologies following ELAs.

Main Methods:

• A systematic search of electronic databases (2001-June 2019) identified 68 eligible studies.
• Data from 3685 participants were analyzed using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) algorithm.
• Analyses were conducted according to best-practice guidelines for coordinate-based meta-analyses.

Main Results:

• Pooled analyses did not reveal significant findings.
• Subgroup analyses identified significant functional alterations in healthy subjects in the left superior frontal gyrus.
• Specific alterations were found in the left centromedial amygdala (emotion processing), left precuneus (memory processing), and left centromedial amygdala and putamen (postnatal experiences).

Conclusions:

• ELAs systematically alter critical neurocognitive systems, potentially embedding latent vulnerability to psychopathologies.
• Functional alterations in regions like the amygdala and frontal gyrus are key targets for understanding ELA impact.
• These findings support the role of environmental imaging in understanding mental health vulnerability.