BACKGROUND: Altered autobiographical memory (ABM) functioning has been
implicated in the pathogenesis of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and
may represent one mechanism by which childhood maltreatment elevates psychiatric
risk.
AIMS: To investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment on ABM functioning.
METHOD: Thirty-four children with documented maltreatment and 33 matched controls
recalled specific ABMs in response to emotionally-valenced cue words during
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
RESULTS: Children with maltreatment experience showed reduced hippocampal and
increased middle temporal and para-hippocampal activation during positive ABM
recall compared to peers. During negative ABM recall they exhibited increased
amygdala activation, and greater amygdala connectivity with the salience network.
CONCLUSIONS: Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered ABM functioning,
specifically reduced activation in areas encoding specification of positive memories,
and greater activation of the salience network for negative memories. This pattern
may confer latent vulnerability to future depression and post-traumatic stress
disorder
