@article{ref1,
title="Childhood trauma moderates morphometric associations between orbitofrontal cortex  and amygdala: implications for pathological personality traits",
journal="Psychological medicine",
year="2020",
author="Bounoua, Nadia and Miglin, Rickie and Spielberg, Jeffrey M. and Johnson, Curtis L. and Sadeh, Naomi",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Research has demonstrated that chronic stress exposure early in  development can lead to detrimental alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex  (OFC)-amygdala circuit. However, the majority of this research uses functional  neuroimaging methods, and thus the extent to which childhood trauma corresponds to  morphometric alterations in this limbic-cortical network has not yet been  investigated. This study had two primary objectives: (i) to test whether anatomical  associations between OFC-amygdala differed between adults as a function of exposure  to chronic childhood assaultive trauma and (ii) to test how these  environment-by-neurobiological effects relate to pathological personality traits. <br><br>METHODS: Participants were 137 ethnically diverse adults (48.1% female) recruited  from the community who completed a clinical diagnostic interview, a self-report  measure of pathological personality traits, and anatomical MRI scans. <br><br>RESULTS:  Findings revealed that childhood trauma moderated bilateral OFC-amygdala volumetric  associations. Specifically, adults with childhood trauma exposure showed a positive  association between medial OFC volume and amygdalar volume, whereas adults with no  childhood exposure showed the negative OFC-amygdala structural association observed  in prior research with healthy samples. Examination of the translational relevance  of trauma-related alterations in OFC-amygdala volumetric associations for disordered  personality traits revealed that trauma exposure moderated the association of OFC  volume with antagonistic and disinhibited phenotypes, traits characteristic of  Cluster B personality disorders. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The OFC-amygdala circuit is a  potential anatomical pathway through which early traumatic experiences perpetuate  emotional dysregulation into adulthood and confer risk for personality pathology. <br><br>RESULTS provide novel evidence of divergent neuroanatomical pathways to similar  personality phenotypes depending on early trauma exposure.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0033-2917",
doi="10.1017/S0033291720004468",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720004468"
}