| Title: | Chronic pain and differential brain morphology alterations of childhood maltreatment, trauma exposure in adulthood and their cumulative effects in the UK Biobank |
| Journal: | Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging |
| Published: | 10 Apr 2026 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41967583/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2026.04.002 |
| URL: | https://www.medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2025/11/14/2025.11.12.25339964.full.pdf |
Publication 18033
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is associated with heightened prevalence of trauma exposure. Separate studies of chronic pain and trauma report overlapping brain alterations in adults. Yet, the interplay between chronic pain and trauma on brain morphology remains poorly understood.</p>
METHODS: Tabulated T1-weighted structural MRI data were accessed from the UK Biobank (N = 21,996). Linear mixed models assessed main effects of group (control versus chronic pain), severity of trauma exposure and their interaction on measures of cortical surface area, thickness and subcortical volume. To examine unique and cumulative impacts of trauma exposure at different developmental periods, groups exposed to childhood maltreatment only, adulthood trauma only and both were derived. Sex-stratified analyses were performed.</p>
RESULTS: Chronic pain was significantly associated with smaller surface area and thicker cortices across frontal, temporal, parietal, somatosensory, occipital, and cingulate regions. Severity of adulthood and cumulative trauma exposure, but not childhood maltreatment alone, were associated with smaller nucleus accumbens, putamen, thalamus and hippocampal volumes, and inferior parietal gyrus surface area. The association between chronic pain-by-trauma interaction and brain morphology, while not significant in the overall sample, differed by sex. Within the chronic pain group, more severe adulthood trauma was associated with smaller putamen in females, and with larger putamen in males. Females showed more widespread chronic pain- and trauma-associated brain alterations than males.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: Specific effects of chronic pain and trauma severity were evident among adults across different developmental periods. Sex-specific analyses suggest that females may be more sensitive to the impacts of chronic pain and trauma.</p>
4 Authors
- Tong En Lim
- William R Reay
- Sylvia M Gustin
- Yann Quidé
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 363586 | Impacts of cumulative trauma exposure, mental/physical health comorbidities and sex differences on brain morphology and function in people with chronic pain |
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