title: Hippocampal volume and memory performance in a community-based sample of women with posttraumatic stress disorder secondary to child abuse.
abstract: Childhood abuse is linked to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which follows abuse survivors into adulthood. This study identified the neuropsychological and neuromorphological sequelae of PTSD among prepubescently abused women. Right-handed women aged 20-40 years were placed into PTSD and abuse, abuse only, and normal control groups (n = 17 per group). Participants were screened for trauma history and psychiatric symptoms, demographically matched, and given neuropsychological tests and a magnetic resonance scan of their brain. Women with PTSD did not express significant deficits in memory performance or hippocampal volume when compared with the abuse and normal control groups.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio 45501-0720, USA. cpederson@wittenberg.edu
authors.forename: Cathy L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Pederson
authors.forename: Scott H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Kaminski
authors.forename: Kelly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Zander
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Stokes-Crowe
authors.forename: Robin E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Osborn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires