Although the link between childhood maltreatment and violence perpetration in adulthood (i.e., the “cycle of violence”) is well-documented, the neural mechanisms driving these processes remain relatively unknown. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether cortical thickness in adulthood varies as a function of childhood assaultive trauma exposure and whether such neurobiological markers of early trauma relate to the perpetration of aggression across the lifespan. In a sample of 138 ethnically-diverse men and women, whole-brain analysis of the cortical mantle revealed that individuals with exposure to assaultive trauma before age 13 had less cortical thickness in two clusters that survived multiple comparison correction: a region that peaked in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and a region peaking in the right pericalcarine cortex. Diminished cortical thickness in the left OFC cluster was, in turn, associated with greater physical aggression, and mediation analysis revealed that reductions in cortical thickness in this left prefrontal region partially accounted for the association between exposure to childhood assaultive trauma and lifetime perpetration of aggression in adulthood. Findings extend previous investigations into the morphological correlates of early assaultive trauma by implicating reductions in cortical thickness as a potential mechanism linking early violence exposure to violence perpetration that extends into adulthood.

尽管充分证明了儿童期虐待与成年时期暴力行为之间的联系（即“暴力循环”），但驱动这些过程的神经机制仍然相对未知。这项研究的目的是调查成年后皮质厚度是否随儿童攻击性创伤暴露的变化而变化，以及这种早期创伤的神经生物学标志物是否与整个生命周期的侵略行为有关。在对138个种族不同的男性和女性进行的样本中，对大脑皮层的全脑分析显示，在13岁之前遭受攻击性创伤的个体在两个集群中的皮质厚度较小，并且可以经受多次比较校正：在左侧眼眶额叶皮层（OFC）达到峰值的区域，在右侧黄car皮层达到峰值的区域。反过来，左侧OFC簇的皮质厚度减少则与更大的身体攻击力有关，而调解分析表明，该左前额叶区域皮质厚度的减少部分地解释了儿童遭受攻击性创伤的暴露与终身侵略行为之间的联系。成年。研究结果通过将皮层厚度的减少作为将早期暴力暴露与成年后的暴力行为联系起来的潜在机制，将先前的研究扩展到了早期攻击性创伤的形态学相关性上。调解分析表明，左前额叶区域皮质厚度的减少部分地解释了儿童期遭受攻击性创伤与成年期终身侵略之间的关系。研究结果通过将皮层厚度的减少作为将早期暴力暴露与成年后的暴力行为联系起来的潜在机制，将先前的研究扩展到了早期攻击性创伤的形态学相关性上。调解分析显示，左前额叶区域皮质厚度的减少部分地解释了儿童期遭受攻击性创伤与成年期侵略行为之间的联系。研究结果通过将皮层厚度的减少作为将早期暴力暴露与延伸到成年的暴力行为联系起来的潜在机制，将先前的研究扩展到了早期攻击性创伤的形态学相关性上。