Brain White Matter Alterations in Young Adults with Childhood Emotional Neglect Experience

Childhood trauma encompasses various subtypes, and evidence suggests that neurodevelopmental damage differs across these subtypes. However, the specific impact of childhood emotional neglect (CEN), a distinct subtype of childhood trauma, on the microstructural integrity of brain white matter remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effects of CEN on the microstructure of brain white matter in young adults using diffusion tensor imaging. After administering online questionnaires, conducting interviews, and obtaining diagnoses from specialized physicians, we recruited 20 young adults with a history of CEN and 20 young adults with no history of childhood trauma. Using automating fiber tract quantification (driven by a diffusion tensor model), we traced the 20 primary white matter fibers and divided each fiber into 100 nodes for analysis. Group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) at each node of each fiber were then examined. The results revealed that the FA values at nodes 1-35 of the right thalamic radiation were consistently lower in the emotional neglect group compared to the control group (after FEW correction, cluster threshold = 22, p-threshold = 0.005). These findings suggest an association between CEN and reduced FA values in the right thalamic radiation, indicating alterations in brain white matter. Overall, our results contribute to the theoretical understanding of how "experience shapes the brain," providing new insights into the neurostructural consequences of childhood emotional neglect.