A study by the University of Granada analyzes the neuropsychological consequences in survivors, showing differences in their brain activation patterns

November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

A team of scientists from the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center at the University of Granada (UGR) has studied how gender-based violence affects the verbal memory of female survivors. In an international study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a word recognition task, women who had suffered gender-based violence showed difficulties in the initial stages of learning, as well as differences in their brain patterns.

Eighty women participated in the study (40 survivors of gender-based violence and 40 with no history of violence). The results help to understand why everyday tasks that depend on verbal memory, such as learning new information and remembering lists, can be more tiring for victims. The researchers are focusing on these neuropsychological sequelae with a view to evaluating them and developing possible rehabilitation treatments.

The work has clinical implications. The scientific group considers it essential to carry out neuropsychological assessments of survivors of gender-based violence in order to identify and rehabilitate the sequelae.

The research has detected poorer initial learning: they recognize fewer words in the first two trials and perform worse in free recall. In addition, severity has an influence: the greater the physical violence, the worse the recognition in these early stages of learning.

The brain pattern is also affected. During recognition, the group of survivors showed greater brain deactivation in the mPFC/vmPFC, anterior cingulate, and caudate (anterior default mode network: aDMN), consistent with greater effort to achieve the same performance as the members of the control group.

Previous evidence already pointed to difficulties in attention and memory after violence, but there was a lack of studies showing brain mechanisms in real time, such as during a memory task. This study fills that gap and provides a neurobiological explanation for the everyday difficulties experienced by women who have suffered gender-based violence.