Emotional Neurophysiological Response in Intimate Partner Violence Against Women. A Pilot Study

Studies have shown that trauma in battered women might affect neural responses during emotional processing tasks. Being intimate partner violence (IPV) a major problem in Colombia nowadays, this research seeks to contribute the understanding, in a broad way, of the biological effect of violence against women. This paper describes a pilot study conducted to analyze emotional neurophysiological response in women who had experienced IPV. Participants assessed different pictures from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) through the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) technique. EEG data were recorded and analyzed in the frequency domain to observe interhemispheric asymmetries in the alpha and beta bands. The SAM results show differences in the arousal dimension between the two groups of women, suggesting a different interpretation in those with history of IPV. For the valence dimension the results were not conclusive. EEG signals show evidence of asymmetries, varying according to the valence dimension, especially in the frontal area, correlated with the SAM results and IAPS normative values.