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Cited by 701Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchChild Abuse and TraumaMemory Processes and Influences

Neural correlates of memories of childhood sexual abuse in women with and without posttraumatic stress disorder

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Bremner, J. Douglas, Narayan, Meena, Staib, Lawrence H., Southwick, Steven M., McGlashan, Thomas, Charney, Dennis S.·1999·American Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1176/ajp.156.11.1787PMC PMC3233772
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Childhood sexual abuse is very common in our society, but little is known about the long-term effects of abuse on brain function. The purpose of this study was to measure neural correlates of memories of childhood abuse in sexually abused women with and without the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHOD: Twenty-two women with a history of childhood sexual abuse underwent injection of [15O]H2O, followed by positron emission tomography imaging of the brain while they listened to neutral and traumatic (personalized childhood sexual abuse events) scripts. Brain blood flow during exposure to traumatic and neutral scripts was compared for sexually abused women with and without PTSD. RESULTS: Memories of childhood sexual abuse were associated with greater increases in blood flow in portions of anterior prefrontal cortex (superior and middle frontal gyri-areas 6 and 9), posterior cingulate (area 31), and motor cortex in sexually abused women with PTSD than in sexually abused women without PTSD. Abuse memories were associated with alterations in blood flow in medial prefrontal cortex, with decreased blood flow in subcallosal gyrus (area 25), and a failure of activation in anterior cingulate (area 32). There was also decreased blood flow in right hippocampus, fusiform/inferior temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and visual association cortex in women with PTSD relative to women without PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: These findings implicate dysfunction of medial prefrontal cortex (subcallosal gyrus and anterior cingulate), hippocampus, and visual association cortex in pathological memories of childhood abuse in women with PTSD. Increased activation in posterior cingulate and motor cortex was seen in women with PTSD. Dysfunction in these brain areas may underlie PTSD symptoms provoked by traumatic reminders in subjects with PTSD.

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  • A few studies have not found amygdala activation during symptomatic conditions in PTSD, possibly owing to issues associated with using a smaller sample.

    “though, a few studies have not found amygdala activation during symptomatic conditions in PTSD, possibly owing to issues associated with using a smaller sample (Bremner et al., 1999;Lanius et al., 2001).”

    From Neuroimaging research in posttraumatic stress disorder – Focus on amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (2019) · cites this paper as Bremner et al., 1999

  • Bremner et al. (1999) found that memories of sexual abuse were associated with greater increased blood flow in portions of anterior prefrontal cortex in sexually abused women with PTSD than in sexually abused women without PTSD.

    “Memories of sexual abuse were associated with greater increased blood flow in portions of anterior prefrontal cortex in sexually abused women with PTSD than in sexually abused women without PTSD.”

    From Neuroimaging research in posttraumatic stress disorder – Focus on amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (2019) · cites this paper as Bremner et al. (1999)

  • Bremner et al. (1999) showed that, as opposed to childhood sexual abuse survivors without PTSD, those with PTSD failed to activate the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in response to traumatic versus neutral scripts.

    “In his PET study, Bremner et al. (1999) showed that, as opposed to childhood sexual abuse survivors without PTSD, those with PTSD failed to activate the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) in response to traumatic versus neutral scripts.”

    From Neuroimaging research in posttraumatic stress disorder – Focus on amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (2019) · cites this paper as Bremner et al. (1999)

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Authors
Bremner, J. D., Narayan, M., Staib, L. H., Southwick, S. M., McGlashan, T., & Charney, D. S.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Published
1999-11-01
Volume
156
Issue
11
Pages
1787-1795
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/ajp.156.11.1787
PMC
PMC3233772
OpenAlex
W1763274674
Cited by
701
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 37 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 28
FWCI
22.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH056120)
  • National Center for Research Resources (M01RR000125)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Keywords
child sexual abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, memory reconsolidation, neural correlates, cerebral blood flow, anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex, motor cortex, visual association cortex, traumatic memory, women
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain, Child, Child Abuse, Sexual, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory, Motor Cortex, Regional Blood Flow, Sex Factors, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Visual Cortex, Prefrontal Cortex

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