Decreased left hippocampal volumes in parents with or without posttraumatic stress disorder who lost their only child in China

•This is the first study about hippocampal and amygdala volumes in parents who lost their only child in China.•Left hippocampal volumes were reduced in parents who lost their only child, with or without PTSD, compared to untraumatized controls.•Left hippocampal atrophy was associated with the trauma exposure itself, even in the absence of PTSD.•Amygdala volumes were not significantly reduced in parents who lost their only child, with or without PTSD, compared to untraumatized controls.

BackgroundLimbic structural changes have been found in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the results were controversial, and no study has examined the hippocampal and amygdala volume changes in parents with or without PTSD who had lost their only child and could no longer conceive in China.MethodsHippocampal and amygdala volumes of 57 parents with PTSD (PTSD+), 11 trauma-exposed parents without PTSD (PTSD−) and 39 non-traumatized controls were examined using magnetic resonance imaging. Correlations of the volumes with the time since trauma, Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) scores, age, gender and intracranial volume (ICV) were investigated in the PTSD+ group.Resultsleft hippocampal volumes were significantly smaller in the PTSD+ and PTSD− groups than in the controls, but there were no significant differences between the PTSD+ and PTSD− groups. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the right hippocampus or bilateral amygdala volumes. Additionally, the hippocampal and amygdala volumes showed no correlation with the time since trauma, CAPS score and gender, whereas the left hippocampal volumes were correlated with ICV, and the bilateral amygdala volumes were correlated with ICV and age in the PTSD+ group.LimitationsThe PTSD− group included only 11 participants.Conclusionsleft hippocampal volumes decreased in parents who lost their only child, with or without PTSD. Our results suggest a potentially unique role of the trauma of losing an only child, which is extremely painful and may induce a decrease in the left hippocampal volume independent of PTSD effects.