The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

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dc.contributor.advisorThomas, Kevinen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorMeintjies, Ernestaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDey, Marcen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-08T09:44:04Z
dc.date.available2014-10-08T09:44:04Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes abstract.en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 77-93).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractExposure to traumatic childhood events can lead to a range of behavioural, psychological, and physiological consequences. Previous studies have shown that neurobiological changes in reaction to severe stress may cause lasting damage to particular neural regions, including the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. It has been suggested that such damage to these regions results in difficulties in associated cognitive functioning, including problems with verbal declarative memory and cognitive control. Little focus has been placed on visualspatial cognition in traumatised individuals, however. The aim of this project, which comprised two studies, was to investigate visual memory and spatial cognition in adult survivors of childhood trauma. Study 1 compared the performance of 23 individuals who had experienced childhood abuse (the Trauma group) to 38 matched controls with no such experience (the Control group) on the four visual-spatial memory tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Results suggested that participants in the Trauma group showed poorer performance on two of the more complex tasks, which tapped both hippocampal and prefrontal cortex functioning, compared to the controls. One interpretation of this finding is that these between-group differences reflect the dysfunction of a network involved in visual-spatial memory in individuals who have experienced childhood trauma. Study 2 used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether any marked differences in neural activation would be evident between individuals with a history of childhood trauma (n = 7) and matched controls with no such history (n = 14) during spatial navigation tasks. Functional images were gathered while participants completed two spatial navigation tasks: the Computer-Generated Arena (CG Arena), a smallscale spatial navigation task, and the Virtual City, a large-scale spatial navigation task based on an environment created by Maguire et al. (1998). Although no significant behavioural differences were evident during the completion of these tasks, the fMRI data did show marked differences in activation. These results of the CG Arena, in particular, showed lower activation in PFC areas, including the anterior cingulate cortex, during wayfinding tasks. Taken together, the results of these two studies suggest that (a) subtly impaired neural functioning is evident in individuals with a history of childhood trauma, and (b) this impairment may lead to difficulties in successfully completing complex visual-spatial memory and spatial navigation tasks.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationDey, M. (2009). <i>The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8267en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDey, Marc. <i>"The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8267en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDey, M. 2009. The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Dey, Marc AB - Exposure to traumatic childhood events can lead to a range of behavioural, psychological, and physiological consequences. Previous studies have shown that neurobiological changes in reaction to severe stress may cause lasting damage to particular neural regions, including the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. It has been suggested that such damage to these regions results in difficulties in associated cognitive functioning, including problems with verbal declarative memory and cognitive control. Little focus has been placed on visualspatial cognition in traumatised individuals, however. The aim of this project, which comprised two studies, was to investigate visual memory and spatial cognition in adult survivors of childhood trauma. Study 1 compared the performance of 23 individuals who had experienced childhood abuse (the Trauma group) to 38 matched controls with no such experience (the Control group) on the four visual-spatial memory tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Results suggested that participants in the Trauma group showed poorer performance on two of the more complex tasks, which tapped both hippocampal and prefrontal cortex functioning, compared to the controls. One interpretation of this finding is that these between-group differences reflect the dysfunction of a network involved in visual-spatial memory in individuals who have experienced childhood trauma. Study 2 used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether any marked differences in neural activation would be evident between individuals with a history of childhood trauma (n = 7) and matched controls with no such history (n = 14) during spatial navigation tasks. Functional images were gathered while participants completed two spatial navigation tasks: the Computer-Generated Arena (CG Arena), a smallscale spatial navigation task, and the Virtual City, a large-scale spatial navigation task based on an environment created by Maguire et al. (1998). Although no significant behavioural differences were evident during the completion of these tasks, the fMRI data did show marked differences in activation. These results of the CG Arena, in particular, showed lower activation in PFC areas, including the anterior cingulate cortex, during wayfinding tasks. Taken together, the results of these two studies suggest that (a) subtly impaired neural functioning is evident in individuals with a history of childhood trauma, and (b) this impairment may lead to difficulties in successfully completing complex visual-spatial memory and spatial navigation tasks. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study TI - The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8267 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/8267
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDey M. The effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8267en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPsychologyen_ZA
dc.titleThe effect of early adversity on adult spatial cognition : a functional magnetic resonance imaging studyen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSocScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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