The Resilient Emotional Brain: A Scoping Review of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Limbic Structure and Function in Resilient Adults With a History of Childhood Maltreatment

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is one of the strongest predictors of adult mental illness, although not all adults with CM develop psychopathology. Here, we describe the structure and function of the emotional brain regions that may contribute to resilient functioning after CM. We review studies that r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological psychiatry : cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging 2020-04, Vol.5 (4), p.392-402
Main Authors: Moreno-López, Laura, Ioannidis, Konstantinos, Askelund, Adrian Dahl, Smith, Alicia J., Schueler, Katja, van Harmelen, Anne-Laura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abuse
Adult
Amygdala
Brain
Brain function
Brain structure
Child
Child Abuse
Childhood maltreatment
Emotions
Humans
Neglect
Neurobiology
Prefrontal Cortex
Psychopathology
Resilience
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Summary:Childhood maltreatment (CM) is one of the strongest predictors of adult mental illness, although not all adults with CM develop psychopathology. Here, we describe the structure and function of the emotional brain regions that may contribute to resilient functioning after CM. We review studies that report medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus (limbic regions) structure, function, and/or connections in resilient adults (i.e., those reporting CM without psychopathology) versus vulnerable adults (i.e., those reporting CM with psychopathology) or healthy adults (those without CM and with no psychopathology). We find that resilient adults have larger hippocampal gray and white matter volume and greater connectivity between the central executive network and the limbic regions. In addition, resilient adults have improved ability to regulate emotions through medial prefrontal cortex–limbic downregulation, lower hippocampal activation to emotional faces, and increased amygdala habituation to stress. We highlight the need for longitudinal designs that examine resilient functioning across domains and consider gender, type, timing, and nature of CM assessments and further stressors to further improve our understanding of the role of the emotional brain in resilient functioning after CM.
ISSN:2451-9022
2451-9030
DOI:10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.12.008