DATE: 11/2/2017

TO: Cecilia Musselman

FROM: Ben Freiman

SUBJECT: Peer Review of Project 2 for Thao Pham

This paper discusses the links between psychotic disorders and mental health with both genetics
and prior trauma. Childhood trauma is specifically defined in the first section with some data.
Information on studies showing links between trauma and mental health as well as studies on
neuroimaging follows this. A section on immune reactions is incoming following these sections,
followed by a section on disorders which can exacerbate or be associated with childhood trauma.

My most significant concern in this paper is a fairly significant amount of word-for-word

copying from existing studies without quotation. While the conclusion opens with a quote that is
properly quoted from Busso et al., 2017, it is my understanding that one is not supposed to use
quotations in a literature review of this sort to begin with. However, several other statements
from Busso et al., 2017 are directly copied without any quotation marks - including
maltreatment, is associated with about 45% of childhood-onset mental disorders and 32% of
adult-onset mental disorders. is directly copied from the paper. Other statements are slightly
altered - Busso et al. 2017 states The medial temporal lobe includes the amygdala,
hippocampus, and parahippocampal cortex. The amygdala is involved in perception and
associative learning of threat-related stimuli. Although stress-related perturbations in amygdala
structure are well-documented in rodents, findings in children and adults exposed to
maltreatment are mixed while the author of this paper states The medial temporal lobe consists
of the amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal cortex. The amygdala in the brain is
involved in perception and associative learning of threat-related stimuli. Although stress-related
perturbations in amygdala structure are well-researched and documented in rodents, findings in
children and adults exposed to maltreatment are mixed. The most noticeable copied point was
from Isvoranu et al., 2017 , who stated ... the relationship between CT and psychosis. We used
data of patients diagnosed with a psychotic disorder (n = 552) from the longitudinal
observational study Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis Project and included the 5 scales of
the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form and all original symptom dimensions of the
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Our results show that all 5 types of CT and positive and
negative symptoms of psychosis are connected through symptoms of general psychopathology.,
which is directly copied in this paper. This example was the only reason I checked any of the
other statements as the usage of the word we in this case seemed rather out of place. Although
all of these statements include a citation afterwards, the author needs to synthesize and analyze
these results rather than just copy-pasting. My only other significant concern in this paper was
the organizational system, as several of the headings seemed to blend into one another, but this
may be common for papers in this format (the author did not include what the style of paper was,
though, so I cannot check). Figures would be a welcome addition, and while the introduction
does set the stage fairly well despite the authors comments that they are hoping to improve upon
it, the conclusion could use a more argumentative tone and potentially a better wrap up
sentence to close.
There are some more minor issues present as well. The title contains a typo, as I believe it should
be Childhood trauma and its effects on the onset and development of psychological distress and
brain functions in young adults, although it may be brain functions. Some other grammatical
issues arise at times, especially in pluralization, but there are few if any times in this paper it
becomes difficult to understand a sentence due to grammar. Some terms could use a definition,
in my opinion (i.e. urban birth, affective response, psychotic response, etc.) but may be more
commonly used in this field and were just not included in the context memo as some are Google-
able.