Unveiling White Matter Abnormalities in PTSD after Sexual Assault with Advanced Deep Neural Network
Poster No:
786
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Seoyoung Lim1, Jiook Cha2
Institutions:
1Seoul National University, Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Seoul, Korea, 2Seoul National University, Department of Psychology, Seoul, Korea
First Author:
Co-Author:
Introduction:
Experiencing sexual assault can significantly increase the likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As delineated by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013, these manifestations can encompass PTSD symptoms such as recurrently reliving the distressing event, proactively evading its reminders, undergoing negative alterations in emotions and cognition. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sexual assault and psychological trauma load and alterations in white matter intensity among sexual assault survivors particularly focusing on two distinct timeframes : initially at one month and subsequently after undergoing treatment, at a six-month period post-assault. Beyond statistical based neuroimaging technique, this study leveraged deep learning transfer techniques informed by big data, alongside explainable artificial intelligence, to decode the intricate patterns of brain alterations in sexually abused adolescent girls.
Methods:
In the initial phase of our study, we navigated the complex relationship between childhood trauma load, brain white matter features, and the onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in sexual assault survivors using regression analysis. Subsequently, our focus shifted towards scrutinizing the mediating role of white matter integrity in the progression of PTSD symptoms, particularly investigating how alterations in white matter might act as a neurological pathway translating sexual abuse trauma into PTSD symptomatology. We conducted a detailed examination across two different timeframes: one and six months following the sexual assault. To address the challenges presented by the small sample size and the previous variability in neuroimaging techniques, we leveraged a deep neural network approach; we utilized a pre-trained model developed with the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) data similar to this PTSD study, transferring weights to a smaller dataset from sexual abuse survivors.
·Overview of Mediation Models Linking Childhood Trauma, White Matter Integrity, and PTSD symptoms
Results:
In exploring the neural ramifications of childhood sexual abuse and its trajectory of PTSD , our study highlighted that Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) sexual abuse scores markedly influenced Fractional Anistropy (FA) in the Corticospinal Tract ,independent of age and sex considerations. At the 1-month follow-up, only the direct effects of sexual abuse on the brain were evident without extending to PTSD symptom, however only the Corticospinal Tract have the indirect effect on 6-month PTSD symptom score as evidenced by an Average Causal Mediation Effect (ACME) of 0.040 (P-value <0.05,FDR corrected) and an Average Direct Effect (ADE) of 0.028 (P-value <0.05, FDR corrected). Furthermore, by the 6-month longitudinal assessment post-treatment, it was the emotional abuse that demonstrated effect on the Cingulum area, with an ACME of 0.048 (P-value <0.05, FDR corrected) and an ADE of 0.056 (FDR corrected). Further, using ABCD dataset, we developed a white matter specific deep neural network tailored to sexual abuse. The application of this model through transfer learning to the affected adolescent girls yielded a higher performance with an AUC exceeding the baseline by over 30%. Lastly, through explainable artificial intelligence, we confirmed the importance of the Corticospinal tract and cingulum regions in the model's learning process.
Conclusions:
This study elucidated the impact of childhood trauma on brain structure and function. Focusing on children who have endured sexual abuse – a subset of trauma with distinct characteristics – our analyses have probed the specificity of such experiences on white matter alterations. Consequently, this study has demonstrated neuropathological changes associated with sexual abuse in adolescents.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism)
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Sexual Behavior 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Classification and Predictive Modeling
Diffusion MRI Modeling and Analysis 2
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
Diffusion MRI
Keywords:
MRI
Multivariate
Psychiatric Disorders
Trauma
White Matter
WHITE MATTER IMAGING - DTI, HARDI, DSI, ETC
1|2Indicates the priority used for review