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White Matter Alterations Following Childhood Trauma

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Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Abstract

While recent reviews and meta-analyses reported structural gray matter changes in patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and in subjects with a history of childhood trauma, it remains unclear if structural changes are also existent within white matter tracts. Two aspects are discussed in this chapter – white matter alterations in children and adolescents exposed to traumatic experiences and in adults with a history of childhood trauma. Overall, reductions in white matter volume were reported more often than increases in these populations. The structures most often implicated are the corpus callosum and the cingulum. However, the heterogeneity of the exact locations indicates only a weak overlap across published studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Street 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany

    Judith K. Daniels

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  1. Judith K. Daniels
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Correspondence to Judith K. Daniels .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Buckinghamshire New University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Colin R. Martin

  2. Kings College, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Daniels, J.K. (2015). White Matter Alterations Following Childhood Trauma. In: Martin, C., Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08613-2_10-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08613-2_10-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08613-2

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