title: Egocentric virtual maze learning in adult survivors of childhood abuse with dissociative disorders: evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: Present neuroimaging findings suggest two subtypes of trauma response, one characterized predominantly by hyperarousal and intrusions, and the other primarily by dissociative symptoms. The neural underpinnings of these two subtypes need to be better defined. Fourteen women with childhood abuse and the current diagnosis of dissociative amnesia or dissociative identity disorder but without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 14 matched healthy comparison subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while finding their way in a virtual maze. The virtual maze presented a first-person view (egocentric), lacked any topographical landmarks and could be learned only by using egocentric navigation strategies. Participants with dissociative disorders (DD) were not impaired in learning the virtual maze when compared with controls, and showed a similar, although weaker, pattern of activity changes during egocentric learning when compared with controls. Stronger dissociative disorder severity of participants with DD was related to better virtual maze performance, and to stronger activity increase within the cingulate gyrus and the precuneus. Our results add to the present knowledge of preserved attentional and visuospatial mnemonic functioning in individuals with DD.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Godehard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Weniger
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siemerkus
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barke
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruhleder
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sachsse
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Samoa
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dechent
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Irle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen