Women with early maltreatment experience show increased resting-state functional connectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the child abuse (CA) and the unaffected comparisons (UC).

	Child abuse group (CA) N = 35	Unaffected comparisons (UC) N = 31	p	Cohen’s d
Age (years), mean (SD)	36.16 (12.19)	36.42 (11.46)	.929	0.02
Highest education level (n)
High school	10	6	.397
Bachelor	16	13	.174
Master/PhD/Postdoc	4	7	.455
Psychiatric medication (n)	7	2	.109
Depression (BDI) score (SD)	15.68 (10.61)	5.35 (5.30)	<.001**	1.21
State anxiety (STAI) score (SD)	39.17 (8.22)	30.45 (7.22)	<.001**	1.12
Trait anxiety (STAI) score (SD)	47.81 (8.81)	35.19 (9.24)	<.001**	1.40
Resilience (RS) score (SD)	126.86 (17.10)	138.61 (13.25)	.003*	0.76
Dissociative experience (DES) score (SD)	20.50 (12.99)	10.12 (7.73)	.001*	0.96
Self-reported empathy (IRI) score (SD)	72.80 (12.43)	64.48 (9.29)	.003*	0.75
IRI – perspective taking (SD)	18.89 (4.81)	18.03 (3.99)	.439	0.19
IRI – fantasy (SD)	17.89 (5.51)	16.13 (5.64)	.206	0.32
IRI – empathic concern (SD)	21.14 (4.39)	20.10 (4.22)	.329	0.24
IRI – personal distress (SD)	14.86 (4.17)	10.23 (4.46)	<.001**	1.08
Current psychopathology (at least one)	27	6	<.001**	–
Mood disorders (n)	14	2	.002*	–
Anxiety disorders (n)	19	2	<.001**	–
PTSD (n)	7	0	.008*	–
Alcohol dependence and abuse (n)	0	2	.127	–
Substance dependence and abuse (n)	0	2	.127	–
Psychotic disorders (n)	1	0	.351	–
Eating disorders (n)	2	1	.528	–
Personality disorders (n)	13	0	<.001**	–
Borderline personality disorder	12	0
Antisocial personality disorder	1	0
Suicidality	10	0	.001*	–
Type of abuse
Sexual abuse (n)	29	0		–
Rape (n)	18	0		–
Sexual assault (n)	21	0		–
Physical abuse (n)	26	0		–
Emotional abuse (n)	21	0		–

* p < .01 ** p < .001.

Table 2. MNI coordinates and anatomical locations of the identified clusters of seed-based functional connectivity analysis. Child abuse > Unaffected comparisons.

			MNI coordinates
	Anatomical location	Cluster size K	x	y	z	Peak t
Left TPJ	Left midbrain	46	−9	−30	−21	4.21
Precuneus	Left pons, midbrain	94	−15	−18	−30	4.13
			–9	–30	–21	4.04
			-18	-27	-39	3.88
dmPFC	Right cerebellum post. lobe	90	24	−42	−45	4.61
	Post. lobe		33	–39	–45	4.60
	Ant. lobe		27	-54	-36	4.57
	Left pons	71	–15	–18	–30	4.78
			-15	-24	-42	3.60
			–18	–33	–42	3.53
	Right fusiform gyrus	62	51	-6	-30	4.14
			42	–12	–30	3.97
	Right limbic lobe, uncus		33	-6	-33	3.59
Right MTG	Left pons	41	−15	−30	−30	4.09

Figure 1. Functional connectivity of seed regions (in larger font, corrected for multiple comparisons) with other brain areas (smaller font) for the Child abuse > Unaffected comparisons contrast. There were no areas for which Unaffected comparisons > Child abuse. TPJ = temporo-parietal junction; dmPFC = dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; MTG = middle temporal gyrus; R, right; L, left.

Figure 2. Correlation matrix (correlation coefficient, r) for the ToM to ToM region-of interest correlations for the trauma group (CA, left panel) and unaffected comparison group (UC, right panel) separately.

Table 3. MNI coordinates and anatomical locations of the identified clusters of seed-based functional connectivity analysis for the main effect of number of abuse types and severity on the CA group.

			MNI coordinates
Seed region	Anatomical location	Cluster size K	x	y	z	Peak t
Number of abuse types
Positive
Right TPJ	Left/right cingulate gyrus	86	−18	−36	36	4.13
			18	–30	33	3.73
			6	36	27	3.72
Left TPJ	Left insula	118	−42	−9	0	4.21
			–39	–24	–9	3.74
	Left superior temporal gyrus		-45	-18	-3	4.04
	Right thalamus	75	21	–21	–3	4.45
	Right/Left midbrain		9	-24	-12	3.67
			–3	–27	–12	3.58
	Right cingulate gyrus (BA23)	41	3	-30	27	3.52
Precuneus	Right cerebellum post. lobe	42	24	−36	−39	4.50
dmPFC	Left cingulate gyrus	63	−24	−51	24	4.42
Severity
Positive
Left MTG	Right orbital gyrus (BA11)	73	3	42	−24	4.06
	R middle frontal gyrus		9	30	–15	3.39
Negative
Right TPJ	Right cingulate gyrus	41	6	−36	27	4.01
	Right para-hippocampal gyrus	40	30	–33	–6	3.41
Left TPJ	Left superior temporal gyrus	285	−45	−18	0	4.35
	Left insula (BA13)	147	42	–15	–6	4.21
	Right posterior cingulate	40	3	-30	24	3.86
Precuneus	Right hippocampus	53	42	−18	−15	3.40
	Right inferior frontal gyrus	38	–51	12	15	4.00
Left MTG	Right insula	44	45	12	0	3.79

Figure 3. Functional connectivity of seed regions (in larger font, corrected for multiple comparisons) with other brain areas (smaller font) for the main effect of number of abuse on the CA group. TPJ = temporo-parietal junction; dmPFC = dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; STG = superior temporal gyrus; R, right; L, left.