@article{ref1,
title="The influence of emotion on working memory: exploratory fMRI findings among men with histories of childhood sexual abuse",
journal="Child abuse and neglect",
year="2021",
author="Chiasson, Carley and Moorman, Jessie and Romano, Elisa and Vezarov, Michel and Cameron, Andrew and Smith, Andra",
volume="122",
number="",
pages="e105340-e105340",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment can have detrimental consequences on individual well-being and cognitive functioning. One type of childhood maltreatment that remains stigmatized and under-researched among men is child sexual abuse (CSA). Research examining the neurophysiological consequences of CSA in males is limited even further. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: To provide preliminary insight into the neural basis of the impact of CSA during two working memory tasks. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Men with CSA histories, with and without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; CSA + PTSD n = 7, mean age = 45; CSA-PTSD; n = 9, mean age = 41), and men without a CSA history nor PTSD (n = 13, mean age = 36) participated in the study at a local hospital. <br><br>METHODS: Participants completed a letter n-back task and an emotional picture n-back task during fMRI to measure working memory and the influence of emotion on working memory. They also completed self-report measures to assess mental health and childhood abuse histories. <br><br>RESULTS: In the letter n-back task, men with CSA + PTSD had less activation in the cerebellum and left fusiform gyrus compared to CSA-PTSD men. During the working memory task with negative emotional pictures the control group had greater frontal activation, while the CSA-PTSD group had greater limbic activation. Analyses were performed with independent-samples t-tests. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary empirical evidence of the impact CSA can have on men regarding working memory when negative stimuli are involved. It highlights that CSA, even without a diagnosis of PTSD, can have a significant neurophysiological impact. It also provides clinicians with information to support well-being and help with potential day to day challenges.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-2134",
doi="10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105340",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105340"
}