Brain Image Analysis Links To Childhood Trauma

A person experiencing mental dissociative symptoms that are left untreated can experience periods of “zoning out,” feeling emotionally numb or losing some childhood memories. Some psychologists say this is the way the brain “protects itself” after a series of emotionally taxing events- events that can be described as childhood trauma.

Using imaging, researchers at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts have found connections in the brain to dissociative symptoms that can be useful for tailoring treatments of affected patients.

The study used AI machine learning on 65 women with histories of childhood abuse and PTSD. The technique illustrated connections between different parts of the brain related to dissociative symptoms in women.

Lauren A. M. Lebois, Ph.D, a cognitive neuroscientist, told Medical Press that she describes this procedure as finding the “fingerprint” of dissociation in the brain and how that can be a great diagnostic tool. The findings have been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

This team recently received a five year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to look into how dissociation may impact a person’s ability to benefit from treatment of PTSD.