Functional brain alterations during self-reference processing in adolescents with sexual abuse-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A preliminary report

ABSTRACT

We proposed to explore the functional brain changes during a self-reference processing (SRP) task in adolescents with sexual abuse-related post-traumatic stress disorder (N = 10), compared with healthy adolescents (N = 10). While patients showed no behavioral disturbances in (SRP), they exhibited changes in activity and connectivity in regions involved in emotional regulation (amygdala and dorsal prefrontal cortex) and semantic memory (temporal and ventrolateral prefrontal regions). These preliminary results suggest that these alterations may have an effect on self-esteem which may contribute to a possible retention and impairment of symptoms in adulthood.

KEYWORDS:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• functional magnetic resonance imaging
• functional connectivity
• amygdala
• prefrontal

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank C. Lebouleux, F. Mézenge, M.H. Noël, M.C. Onfroy, and C. Tomadesso for their help in testing participants and data acquisition. We are also thankful to the adolescents and institutions that took part in our research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for the article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the French Ministry of Health (PHRC, ID-RCB: 2010-A01131-38).