To explore the characteristics of spontaneous neural activity of resting-state brain function in depressive patients who also suffered childhood maltreatment (CM) by comparing low frequency fluctuation amplitude (ALFF). The relationship between the ALFF changes and the clinical depressive symptoms was also explored.

Fifty adult patients with depression were separated to CM group (twenty-five depressive patients with CM history) and non-CM group (twenty-five depressive patients without CM history).All of them were given a resting functional magnetic resonance scan of the brain. ALFF values of each subject were calculated to estimate the spontaneous activities of different brain regions. A two-sample t-test was performed on the ALFF values of different brain regions between CM group and non-CM group, corrected by an AlphaSim multiple comparison.A Pearson correlation analysis was performed to explore whether the ALFF values were correlated to the clinical depressive symptoms.

(1) The patients with CM showed higher ALFF values in the left middle frontal gyrus (t=4.14),the right middle frontal gyrus (t=4.11), and the left inferior parietal gyrus (t=4.12); while the lower ALFF values were found in the right precuneus (t=-3.68) and the right angular gyrus (t=-4.34). (2) The ALFF values of both right angular gyrus(r=-0.47) and the left inferior parietal gyrus (r=0.53) in the CM group were correlated with the HAMD despair coefficient.

Depressive adult patients with childhood maltreatment may have abnormal rest spontaneous neural activities in the middle frontal gyrus and those default mode network-related brain regions. These abnormalities may be closely correlated with a sense of despair.

Depressive disorder; Magnetic resonance imaging; Signs and symptoms; Childhood maltreatment