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Brain network connectivity in women exposed to intimate partner violence: a graph theory analysis study

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that women who suffer from intimate partner violence (IPV) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have structural and functional alterations in specific brain regions. Yet, little is known about how brain connectivity may be altered in individuals with IPV, but without PTSD. Women exposed to IPV (n = 18) and healthy controls (n = 18) underwent structural brain imaging using a Siemens 3T MRI. Global and regional brain network connectivity measures were determined, using graph theory analyses. Structural covariance networks were created using volumetric and cortical thickness data after controlling for intracranial volume, age and alcohol use. Nonparametric permutation tests were used to investigate group differences. Findings revealed altered connectivity on a global and regional level in the IPV group of regions involved in cognitive-emotional control, with principal involvement of the caudal anterior cingulate, the middle temporal gyrus, left amygdala and ventral diencephalon that includes the thalamus. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence showing different brain network connectivity in global and regional networks in women exposed to IPV, and without PTSD. Altered cognitive-emotional control in IPV may underlie adaptive neural mechanisms in environments characterized by potentially dangerous cues.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and by a fellowship from the Brain-Behavior Initiative of Cape Town University (SA). We acknowledge Sandra Marais who was a principal investigator of a larger clinical trial from which participants were drawn, and Bavi Vythilingum who guided study procedures. We also thank the CSIR Centre for High Performance Computing at Cape Town for providing the supercomputing facilities to perform Freesurfer analysis.

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  1. SU/UCT MRC Unit on Anxiety and Stress Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, PO Box 241, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa

    Annerine Roos

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Jean-Paul Fouche

  3. SU/UCT MRC Unit on Anxiety and Stress Disorders and Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Jean-Paul Fouche & Dan J. Stein

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  1. Annerine Roos
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Correspondence to Annerine Roos.

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This study was funded by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and by a fellowship from the Brain-Behavior Initiative of Cape Town University (South Africa).

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A Roos, JP Fouche and DJ Stein declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This study included human participants. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Roos, A., Fouche, JP. & Stein, D.J. Brain network connectivity in women exposed to intimate partner violence: a graph theory analysis study. Brain Imaging and Behavior 11, 1629–1639 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9644-0

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