Conflict of interest statement: Mitul A Mehta has served as a consultant to GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Evotec GmBH and reports no competing interests. Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke: Speaker fees from Shire Pharamceuticals, UCB Pharma, Medice. Consultancy from UCB Pharma. Current research support from Janssen Cilag & UCB Pharma. Advisory Board fees from Shire and UCB Pharma.
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Amygdala, hippocampal and corpus callosum size following severe early institutional deprivation: The English and Romanian Adoptees Study Pilot
Article first published online: 17 APR 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02084.x
© 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Additional Information
How to Cite
Mehta, M. A., Golembo, N. I., Nosarti, C., Colvert, E., Mota, A., Williams, S. C. R., Rutter, M. and Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2009), Amygdala, hippocampal and corpus callosum size following severe early institutional deprivation: The English and Romanian Adoptees Study Pilot. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50: 943–951. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02084.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 16 JUL 2009
- Article first published online: 17 APR 2009
- Manuscript accepted 17 October 2008
- Abstract
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Keywords:
- Corpus callosum;
- hippocampus;
- amygdala;
- deprivation;
- neurodevelopment;
- institution rearing;
- adolescence;
- brain imaging;
- brain development
The adoption into the UK of children who have been reared in severely deprived conditions provides an opportunity to study possible association between very early negative experiences and subsequent brain development. This cross-sectional study was a pilot for a planned larger study quantifying the effects of early deprivation on later brain structure. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the sizes of three key brain regions hypothesized to be sensitive to early adverse experiences. Our sample was a group of adoptee adolescents (N = 14) who had experienced severe early institutional deprivation in Romania and a group of non-institutionalised controls (N = 11). The total grey and white matter volumes were significantly smaller in the institutionalised group compared with a group of non-deprived, non-adopted UK controls. After correcting for difference in brain volume, the institutionalised group had greater amygdala volumes, especially on the right, but no differences were observed in hippocampal volume or corpus callosum mid-sagittal area. The left amygdala volume was also related to the time spent in institutions, with those experiencing longer periods of deprivation having a smaller left amygdala volume. These pilot findings highlight the need for future studies to confirm the sensitivity of the amygdala to early deprivation.