Memory Recognition Performance in Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: An fMRI Study

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate differences in verbal episodic memory and brain functioning during a word recognition task in women who have survived intimate partner violence compared to a control group of women. All participants carried out a violence and mental health assessment, which included questionnaires measuring the severity of intimate partner violence, possible traumatic brain injury and strangulation, adverse childhood events, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety, depression, and alcohol consumption. All participants also carried out a verbal episodic recognition task consisting of two learning trials. The verbal episodic memory test included both a free recall and a recognition trial, conducted concurrently with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Survivors of intimate partner violence showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptomology. Significant differences were found between groups in verbal episodic memory, such that intimate partner violence survivors performed with lower scores in initial recognition trials and free recall. Lower scores in recognition were associated with a greater severity of physical intimate partner violence. Notably, survivors showed greater deactivation in areas related to the anterior default mode network during the fMRI verbal recognition task compared to the control group. Our findings suggest an association between intimate partner violence and memory tasks, such that survivors show poorer performance in verbal learning and increased brain deactivation during this task. More research is needed to understand the implications of these findings on daily living, such as levels of fatigue and efficacy in completing tasks in which verbal memory is necessary (such as remembering a grocery list).