Reduced orbitofrontal and temporal grey matter in a community sample of maltreated children

Abstract

The medial orbitofrontal cortex and the middle temporal gyrus have been implicated in reinforcement-based decision-making, emotion regulation and autobiographical memory, processes that are impaired in a number of psychiatric disorders associated with maltreatment. We speculate that grey matter disturbance in these regions in a community sample of maltreated children may represent a latent neurobiological risk factor for later psychopathology and heightened risk taking.