Child Sexual Abuse Permanently Alters the Female Brain
20.02.2026
Sexual abuse in childhood can have lasting effects on the brain.
A research team at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has demonstrated that women who experienced sexual violence involving genital contact before puberty show significantly thinner cerebral cortex in the so-called genital region of the brain later in life. This region is located in the somatosensory cortex and processes sensations from the genitals. The journal Communications Biology reports on the findings.
"The genital cortex is a highly understudied area of the brain. Developmental trajectory and capacity for experience-dependent neuroplasticty not well understood,” explains study leader Prof. Christine Heim, Director of the Institute of Medical Psychology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. “Frequency of normal sexual activity is associated with a thicker genital representation field of the somatosensory cortex. However, our results show that sexual trauma during sensitive developmental phases has the opposite effect and is associated with lasting underdevelopment of this field – contrary to previously known principles of neuroplasticity.” According to Heim, these findings may suggest a kind of “developmental programming,” in which the child’s brain attempts to reorganize itself in a protective manner.
Precise Measurements Using Specialized MRI Techniques
For the study, the research team used a specialized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method to individually localize the genital cortex in 128 adult women (aged 18 to 50). The researchers compared 64 women with documented experiences of abuse before puberty to 64 women without such experiences.
“We were able to show that the genital cortex was significantly thinner in affected individuals – regardless of age, duration of abuse, or sexual activity in adulthood,” explains first author Yuliya Kovalchuk. Notably, the earlier the abuse began, the more pronounced the structural changes were. Other brain regions, such as those responsible for the sense of touch in the fingers, remained unchanged.
New Approaches for Future Therapies
“Traumatic early sensory experiences appear to program the brain differently and more permanently than normal tactile stimuli,” summarizes Prof. Heim. “These changes could help explain why many affected individuals later experience difficulties with sexuality and body perception.” In the long term, the findings are intended to support the development of new therapeutic approaches aimed specifically at restoring neural structures – such as through sensory learning or neuroplastic training methods.
The researchers are now planning further studies to examine whether targeted sensory training methods can partially reverse or mitigate the structural changes observed in the genital cortex.
Contact:
Prof. Christine Heim
Director, Institute of Medical Psychology
NeuroCure PI
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Email: christine.heim@charite.de