BEING A VICTIM OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE CHANGES THE CONFIGURATION OF THE BRAIN - STUDY REVEALS

Thirty-five percent of all women will experience some kind of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, recent research says.

A new study aims to understand how these acts of violence and related experiences alter the female brain - and if this trauma effects the way women raise their offspring.

Researchers found that female rats exposed to this type of violence, experienced raised stress levels and 'did not learn how to express maternal behaviors during maternal sensitization'.

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A new study aims to understand how these acts of violence alter the female brain and if this trauma effects the way women raise their offspring. Researchers found that women who fall victim to sexual violence are more prone to depression, PTSD and other mood disorders, which result in neglecting their young

WHAT DID THE STUDY FIND? 

Researchers found that the levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone, was raised during and after the female rats were abused by the male rats.

The female rodents also failed to perform well during associative learning tasks and did not learn how to properly express maternal behaviors during maternal sensitization.

'Most females that were exposed to the adult male did not learn to care for offspring over the course of 17 days,' reports researchers.

The final result showed the females that did not express maternal behaviors towards their offspring, also had less newly-generated cells in their hippocampus, compared to those who did express those behaviors. 

'It is hypothesized that aggression, especially physical aggression during sexual exploration, allows that males to gain access to the female for reproductive purposes,' reads the study published in the journal Nature.

'Many studies have examined aggressive behaviors between males and some have examined aggression between male and females, but most focus on the male response.'

Researchers from Rutgers University created a model that aimed to understand how females react to sexual aggression, 'especially those that occur during puberty and early adulthood.'

The team used a system known as SCAR, or Sexual Conspecific Aggressive Response, to recreate the horrific experience in a laboratory.

'This study is important because we need to understand how sexual aggression affects all species,' Tracey Shors, a psychology professor at Rutgers University, told Futurity.

'We also need to know the consequences of this behavior in order for us to determine what we can do to help women learn to recover from sexual aggression and violence.'

 harDuring this encounter, the male rodent was very aggressive as it pinned down and tried to mount the female – even though her vaginal canal is not fully open, says researchers.

'The most consistent behavior recorded was anogenital tracking, whereby the adult male pursues the anogenital region as the female darts around the cage trying to escape,' reads the study.

The team found that the male pinned the female down because she is much smaller and agile, and as a result, thought she could not scurry away.

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Shors found that the levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone, was raised during and after the experience. The female rodents also failed to perform well during associative learning tasks and did not learn how to properly express maternal behaviors during maternal sensitization

But there was no penetration because the female did get away, but as researchers noted earlier, it would be physically impossible due to her underdeveloped vaginal canal.

Shors found that the levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone, was raised during and after the experience.

The female rodents also failed to perform well during associative learning tasks and did not learn how to properly express maternal behaviors during maternal sensitization.

'Most females that were exposed to the adult male did not learn to care for offspring over the course of 17 days,' reports researchers.

PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE STATISTICS 

Every 9 seconds in the US, a woman is assaulted or beaten.

On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.

On a typical day, there are more than 20,000 phone calls placed to domestic violence hotlines nationwide.

1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States has been raped in their lifetime.

1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to this violence.

Source: NCADV 

The final result showed the females that did not express maternal behaviors towards their offspring, also had less newly-generated cells in their hippocampus, compared to those who did express those behaviors. 

'Moreover, women who have been exposed to severe childhood sexual and/or physical abuse oftentimes suffer from PTSD, which is associated with decreases in amygdala and hippocampal volumes, as well as learning deficits,' according to the study.

'Furthermore, children of mothers suffering from PTSD are at a greater risk for traumatic experiences, which contribute to their poor developmental prognosis.' 

Although the team was able to prove the connection of sexual trauma and mental health, they were unable to understand exactly how these acts affect the female brain.

In part, that’s because there has been no established laboratory model for studying the consequences of sexual aggression and behavior on brain function in females, said Shors

'We know very little about the brain mechanisms that account for the increase in depression and mood disorders among women who experience sexual trauma and aggression,' Shors said.

'But with new approaches and attention to this issue, we can find out how the female brain responds to aggression and how to help women learn to recover from sexual violence.'