Sofiacute;a Preciado-Mercado Author

Research Article Open Access

Prefrontal Dysfunction in Girls with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Secondary to Child Sexual Abuse, and Its Relation to Basal Cortisol Levels

Author(s):

Araceli Sanz-Martin, Sofía Preciado-Mercado, Olga-Inozemtseva, Ibza América García-León

Child sexual abuse is a stressful event that is often associated with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and such brain structures as the prefrontal cortex, which is related to the executive functions and other higher order processes. Though it has been reported that child sexual abuse survivors with PTSD have higher baseline cortisol levels, and that this is associated with cognitive decline, the relation between it and cognitive performance in victims of child sexual abuse with PTSD is not clear. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine the relation between basal cortisol levels and the cognitive functions related to the prefrontal cortex in female adolescents with PTSD secondary to child sexual abuse. Twenty... view more»

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