Citation

Andersen SL, Tomada A, Vincow ES, Valente E, Polcari A, Teicher MH. J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2008; 20(3): 292-301.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, American Neuropsychiatric Association, Publisher American Psychiatric Publishing)

DOI

10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20.3.292

PMID

18806232

Abstract

Volumetric MRI scans from 26 women with repeated episodes of childhood sexual abuse and 17 healthy female comparison subjects (ages 18-22 years) were analyzed for sensitive period effects on hippocampal and amygdala volume, frontal cortex gray matter volume and corpus callosum area. Hippocampal volume was reduced in association with childhood sexual abuse at ages 3-5 years and ages 11-13 years. Corpus callosum was reduced with childhood sexual abuse at ages 9-10 years, and frontal cortex was attenuated in subjects with childhood sexual abuse at ages 14-16 years. Brain regions have unique windows of vulnerability to the effects of traumatic stress.

Language: en