Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Smaller volume of anterior cingulate cortex in abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

Kitayama N, Quinn S, Bremner JD

Division of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-higashi, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan. norikita@fd6.so-net.ne.jp

OBJECTIVE: The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays an important role in emotion, and studies in animals have shown changes in ACC structure with early life stress. The purpose of this study was to measure volume of the ACC in PTSD. METHOD: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure ACC volume in 8 subjects with abuse-related PTSD and 13 healthy subjects without PTSD. ACC volume included Brodmann's area [BA] 24 and 32. RESULTS: Right ACC volume in PTSD patients was significantly smaller than in non-PTSD subjects. CONCLUSION: These results are consistent with smaller ACC volume in PTSD.

Published 6 February 2006 in J Affect Disord, 90(2): 171-4.
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