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. 2008 Summer;20(3):292-301.
doi: 10.1176/jnp.2008.20.3.292.

Preliminary evidence for sensitive periods in the effect of childhood sexual abuse on regional brain development

Susan L Andersen  1 , Akemi Tomada, Evelyn S Vincow, Elizabeth Valente, Ann Polcari, Martin H Teicher
Affiliations

Preliminary evidence for sensitive periods in the effect of childhood sexual abuse on regional brain development

Susan L Andersen et al. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2008 Summer.

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.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Path analysis indicating relationships between density of abuse during different stages of development and measures of brain size derived from structural equation modeling. Path analysis examined two main components. The first was that CSA (or absence of CSA) during one period would predict CSA (or absence of CSA) during the subsequent period. The second component examined the association between density of CSA during each stage and all morphometric measures. Numerical values represent standardized beta-weights and their associated p-values. Light gray lines were evaluated in the model but were not significantly predictive of any relationship between the variables. Morphometric measures for corpus callosum and frontal cortex gray matter volume (GMV) were covaried by midsaggital area and total GMV, respectively. Hippocampal volume was covaried by intracranial volume and list recall, based on results of the multiple regression analyses (see Table II).
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