Revisiting the link between childhood adversity and stress-sensitive brain regions in psychosis and bipolar disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

What was studied

This review asked how childhood adversity links to brain volume in psychosis and bipolar disorder. It looked at gray matter volume. The search ran to June 2024, and study quality was rated with a standard scale. The review had 29 studies with 3056 people with these disorders. Pooled analyses checked the hippocampus and amygdala.

What they found

Most studies reported less gray matter with more childhood adversity, mainly in front brain regions. Findings for the hippocampus and amygdala were mostly null or inconsistent. Pooled analysis of 5 studies found no link to hippocampus size. Pooled analysis of 4 studies found no link to amygdala size. Study quality was fair, and results varied a lot.

What it means for patients

The authors say adversity was not consistently linked to hippocampus or amygdala size. They say evidence was more consistent for smaller gray matter in front brain regions. They say the effect may show up most clearly at the cortical level.

Why it is not certain yet

Quality was only fair, and results varied a lot. Only a subset of studies was pooled. The abstract gives no results by sex or by type of adversity. Brain scans in such studies show links, not cause.

Source

Revisiting the link between childhood adversity and stress-sensitive brain regions in psychosis and bipolar disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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