Childhood sexual abuse related to brain activity abnormalities in right inferior temporal gyrus among major depressive disorder

Regional brain activity abnormalities have been reported in major depressive disorder (MDD) with childhood trauma (CT). However, these findings were variable and equivocal. The present study aims to explore further the correlation between CT and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) alteration in MDD. In this study, we recruited 60 healthy controls (HCs) and 66 MDD patients to complete resting-state fMRI scans. All MDD patients were evaluated clinical symptoms and childhood trauma experience using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Compared to HCs, MDD patients demonstrated significantly altered ALFF in the right middle occipital gyrus (MOG), bilateral inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe, bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC), and bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG). More importantly, we found negative correlation between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) scores and ALFF value appeared mainly in the right ITG among MDD patients. After adjusting for covariates (age, gender, mean framewise displacement (FD), HDRS-17, and HAMA scores), this correlation remained significant. Meanwhile, ALFF in the right ITG could distinguish MDD patients with or without CSA (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.713). Our findings revealed that the regional brain activity abnormalities in the right ITG might be a potential biomarker for MDD patients with CSA.