Harald Kugel1, Anja Stuhrmann2, Victoria Beutelmann2, Peter Zwanzger2, Thomas Lenzen2, Dominik Grotegerd2, Katharina Domschke2, Christa Hohoff2, Patricia Ohrmann2, Jochen Bauer2, Christian Lindner2, Christian Postert2, 3, Carsten Konrad4, Walter Heindel1, Volker Arolt2, Thomas Suslow5, Udo Dannlowski2
1Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany; 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany; 3Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany; 4Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Marburg, HE, Germany; 5Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, SN, Germany
Childhood maltreatment is a strong risk factor for the development of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in later live. In this study, the neurobiological bases of these associations were investigated. Both, depression and PTSD have been associated with increased amygdala responsiveness to negative stimuli as well as reduced hippocampal gray matter volume, therefore we speculated that childhood maltreatment results in similar functional and structural alterations in previously maltreated but at present healthy adults. fMRI and voxel-based morphometry were applied to investigate the alterations.