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Published Online: 1 June 2013

Decreased Cortical Representation of Genital Somatosensory Field After Childhood Sexual Abuse

Christine M. Heim, Ph.D., Helen S. Mayberg, M.D., Tanja Mletzko, M.S., Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., and Jens C. Pruessner, Ph.D.Authors Info & Affiliations
Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry
Volume 170, Number 6
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12070950
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Abstract

Objective

Sexual dysfunction is a common clinical symptom in women who were victims of childhood sexual abuse. The precise mechanism that mediates this association remains poorly understood. The authors evaluated the relationship between the experience of childhood abuse and neuroplastic thinning of cortical fields, depending on the nature of the abusive experience.

Method

The authors used MRI-based cortical thickness analysis in 51 medically healthy adult women to test whether different forms of childhood abuse were associated with cortical thinning in areas critical to the perception and processing of specific behavior implicated in the type of abuse.

Results

Exposure to childhood sexual abuse was specifically associated with pronounced cortical thinning in the genital representation field of the primary somatosensory cortex. In contrast, emotional abuse was associated with cortical thinning in regions relevant to self-awareness and self-evaluation.

Conclusions

Neural plasticity during development appears to result in cortical adaptation that may shield a child from the sensory processing of the specific abusive experience by altering cortical representation fields in a regionally highly specific manner. Such plastic reorganization may be protective for the child living under abusive conditions, but it may underlie the development of behavioral problems, such as sexual dysfunction, later in life.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to American Journal of Psychiatry
Go to American Journal of Psychiatry
American Journal of Psychiatry
Volume 170 • Number 6 • June 2013
Pages: 616 - 623
PubMed: 23732967

History

Received: 20 July 2012
Revision received: 10 December 2012
Accepted: 28 January 2013
Published online: 1 June 2013
Published in print: June 2013

Authors

Details

Christine M. Heim, Ph.D.
From the Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami; and the McGill Center for Studies in Aging and the Departments of Psychology and of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal.
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Helen S. Mayberg, M.D.
From the Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami; and the McGill Center for Studies in Aging and the Departments of Psychology and of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal.
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Tanja Mletzko, M.S.
From the Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami; and the McGill Center for Studies in Aging and the Departments of Psychology and of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal.
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Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D.
From the Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami; and the McGill Center for Studies in Aging and the Departments of Psychology and of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal.
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Jens C. Pruessner, Ph.D.
From the Institute of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami; and the McGill Center for Studies in Aging and the Departments of Psychology and of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal.
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Notes

Address correspondence to Dr. Heim ([email protected]) and Dr. Pruessner ([email protected]).

Funding Information

Dr. Mayberg has received consulting fees from St. Jude Medical Neuromodulation. Dr. Nemeroff has received consulting fees from Takeda and Xhale; holds stock or other financial interests in CeNeRx BioPharma, NovaDel Pharma, PharmaNeuroBoost, Revaax Pharma, and Xhale; has patents for methods and devices for transdermal delivery of lithium and for a method of assessing antidepressant drug therapy via transport inhibition of monoamine neurotransmitters by ex vivo assay; has served on scientific advisory boards for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, CeNeRx BioPharma, NARSAD, NovaDel Pharma, and PharmaNeuroBoost; has served on the board of directors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and NovaDel Pharma; and has received research grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and NIH. Dr. Heim, Ms. Mletzko, and Dr. Pruessner report no financial relationships with commercial interests.Supported by NIH (MH 073698 and MH 58922), NARSAD, and Charité Research Funds.

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