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Hu Y, Hu H, Sun Y, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Han X, Su S, Zhuo K, Wang Z, Zhou Y. Brain functional network changes associated with psychological symptoms in emergency psychological responding professionals after the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1014866. [PMID: 37187862 PMCID: PMC10175782 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1014866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Emergency psychological responding professionals are recruited to help deal with psychological issues as the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues. We aimed to study the neural correlates of psychological states in these emergency psychological responding professionals after exposure to COVID-19 related trauma at baseline and after 1-year self-adjustment. Methods Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and multiscale network approaches were utilized to evaluate the functional brain activities in emergency psychological professionals after trauma. Temporal (baseline vs. follow-up) and cross-sectional (emergency psychological professionals vs. healthy controls) differences were studied using appropriate t-tests. The brain functional network correlates of psychological symptoms were explored. Results At either time-point, significant changes in the ventral attention (VEN) and the default mode network (DMN) were associated with psychological symptoms in emergency psychological professionals. In addition, the emergency psychological professionals whose mental states improved after 1 year demonstrated altered intermodular connectivity strength between several modules in the functional network, mainly linking the DMN, VEN, limbic, and frontoparietal control modules. Conclusion Brain functional network alterations and their longitudinal changes varied across groups of EPRT with distinctive clinical features. Exposure to emergent trauma does cause psychological professionals to produce DMN and VEN network changes related to psychological symptoms. About 65% of them will gradually adjust mental states, and the network tends to be rebalanced after a year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Hu
- Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hao Hu
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Yawen Sun
- Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yiming Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yao Wang
- Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xu Han
- Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shanshan Su
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Kaiming Zhuo
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhen Wang
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Institute of Psychological and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- *Correspondence: Zhen Wang,
| | - Yan Zhou
- Department of Radiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- Yan Zhou,
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Visser RM, Henson RN, Holmes EA. A Naturalistic Paradigm to Investigate Postencoding Neural Activation Patterns in Relation to Subsequent Voluntary and Intrusive Recall of Distressing Events. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2022; 7:960-969. [PMID: 34454167 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While neuroimaging has provided insights into the formation of episodic memories in relation to voluntary memory recall, less is known about neural mechanisms that cause memories to occur involuntarily, for example, as intrusive memories of trauma. Here, we investigated brain activity shortly after viewing distressing events as a function of whether memories for those events later intruded involuntarily. The postencoding period is particularly important because it is a period when clinical interventions could be applied. METHODS A total of 32 healthy volunteers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing distressing film clips, interspersed with 5 minutes of awake (postencoding) rest. Voluntary memories of the films were assessed using free recall and verbal and visual recognition tests after a week, while intrusive (involuntary) memories were recorded in a diary throughout that week. RESULTS When analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging responses related to watching the films, we replicated findings that those "hotspots" (salient moments within the films) that would later become intrusive memories elicited higher activation in parts of the brain's salience network. Surprisingly, while the postencoding persistence of multivoxel correlation structures associated with entire film clips predicted subsequent voluntary recall, there was no evidence that they predicted subsequent intrusions. CONCLUSIONS Results replicate findings regarding the formation of intrusive memories during encoding and extend findings regarding the consolidation of information in postencoding rest in relation to voluntary memory. While we provided a first step using a naturalistic paradigm, further research is needed to elucidate the role of postencoding neural processes in the development of intrusive memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renée M Visser
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Richard N Henson
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Emily A Holmes
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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