Characterising a stress-sensitive default mode network (DMN) deficit in major psychiatric disorders
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Date
2026-02-25
Authors
King, S.
Zhang, Z.
Robinson, L.
Whelan, R.
Nees, F.
Bobou, M.
Banaschewski, T.
Barker, G.J.
Bokde, A.L.W.
Flor, H.
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Abstract
Childhood trauma (CT) is associated with cognitive impairment across major psychiatric disorders. We tested a novel transdiagnostic hypothesis that atypical connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) mediates the association between childhood trauma (CT) and cognitive impairment. The sample of 1851 individuals aged 18-25 included 433 patients with depression, eating disorders, alcohol use disorder, psychosis and ADHD) and were recruited as part of the ESTRA/STRATIFY/IMAGEN studies. CT was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The CANTAB spatial working memory task was administered to assess cognition. Four a priori seeds of the default mode network (DMN) were measured during face processing, namely the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), right lateral parietal (LP), left lateral parietal (LP) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), according to the Harvard-Oxford Cortical and Subcortical Atlas (http://www.cma.mgh.harvard.edu/fsl_atlas.html) as implemented in CONN. Patients had significantly reduced DMN connectivity between the four chosen DMN seeds and the rest of the brain. Reduced DMN connectivity mediated the association between higher CT and worse cognitive performance. Our findings are transdiagnostic in nature with stronger effects in some regions observed in depression, and suggest one transdiagnostic cortical network via which CT’s effects on cognition are transmitted.
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© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproductionin anymediumorformat,aslong as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commonslicenceandyourintendeduseisnotpermitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtainpermissiondirectly fromthecopyrightholder.Toviewacopyofthis licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics , SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being , CANTAB spatial working memory task , Childhood trauma (CT) , Cognitive impairment , Major psychiatric disorders , [Insight] , [Maths]
Citation
King, S, Zhang, Z, Robinson, L, Whelan, R, Nees, F, Bobou, M, Banaschewski, T, Barker, G J, Bokde, A L W, Flor, H, Grigis, A, Garavan, H, Gowland, P, Heinz, A, Brühl, R, Martinot, J-L, Martinot, M-LP, Artiges, E, Poustka, L, Hohmann, S, Holz, N, Baeuchl, C, Smolka, M N, Vaidya, N, Walter, H, Winterer, J, Broulidakis, M J, van Noort, B M, Stringaris, A, Zhang, Y, Sinclair, J, Schumann, G, Schmidt, U, Desrivières, S, Cotter, D, Young, A H, Donohoe, G & Wolsztynski, E 2026, 'Characterising a stress-sensitive default mode network (DMN) deficit in major psychiatric disorders', Commun. Biolog., vol. 9, no. 1, 603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-09400-1
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