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Nostadt A, Schlaffke L, Merz CJ, Wolf OT, Nitsche MA, Tegenthoff M, Lissek S. Microstructural differences in the cingulum and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus are associated with (extinction) learning. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:324. [PMID: 38831468 PMCID: PMC11149371 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-01800-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Cognitive functions, such as learning and memory processes, depend on effective communication between brain regions which is facilitated by white matter tracts (WMT). We investigated the microstructural properties and the contribution of WMT to extinction learning and memory in a predictive learning task. Forty-two healthy participants completed an extinction learning paradigm without a fear component. We examined differences in microstructural properties using diffusion tensor imaging to identify underlying neural connectivity and structural correlates of extinction learning and their potential implications for the renewal effect. Participants with good acquisition performance exhibited higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in WMT including the bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and the right temporal part of the cingulum (CNG). This indicates enhanced connectivity and communication between brain regions relevant to learning and memory resulting in better learning performance. Our results suggest that successful acquisition and extinction performance were linked to enhanced structural connectivity. Lower radial diffusivity (RD) in the right ILF and right temporal part of the CNG was observed for participants with good acquisition learning performance. This observation suggests that learning difficulties associated with increased RD may potentially be due to less myelinated axons in relevant WMT. Also, participants with good acquisition performance were more likely to show a renewal effect. The results point towards a potential role of structural integrity in extinction-relevant WMT for acquisition and extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Nostadt
- Department of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44789, Germany.
- Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Lara Schlaffke
- Department of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44789, Germany
| | - Christian J Merz
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44801, Germany
| | - Oliver T Wolf
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44801, Germany
| | - Michael A Nitsche
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Dortmund, 44139, Germany
- German Centre for Mental Health (DZPG), Bochum, Germany
- University Hospital OWL, Protestant Hospital of Bethel Foundation, University Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and University Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, 33617, Germany
| | - Martin Tegenthoff
- Department of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44789, Germany
| | - Silke Lissek
- Department of Neurology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44789, Germany
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Xiao H, Xi K, Wang K, Zhou Y, Dong B, Xie J, Xie Y, Zhang H, Ma G, Wang W, Feng D, Guo B, Wu S. Restoring the Function of Thalamocortical Circuit Through Correcting Thalamic Kv3.2 Channelopathy Normalizes Fear Extinction Impairments in a PTSD Mouse Model. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2305939. [PMID: 38102998 PMCID: PMC10916658 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202305939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Impaired extinction of fear memory is one of the most common symptoms in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with limited therapeutic strategies due to the poor understanding of its underlying neural substrates. In this study, functional screening is performed and identified hyperactivity in the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) during fear extinction. Furthermore, the encoding patterns of the hyperactivated MD is investigated during persistent fear responses using multiple machine learning algorithms. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is also identified as a functional downstream region of the MD that mediates the extinction of fear memory. The thalamocortical circuit is comprehensively analyzed and found that the MD-ACC parvalbumin interneurons circuit is preferentially enhanced in PTSD mice, disrupting the local excitatory and inhibitory balance. It is found that decreased phosphorylation of the Kv3.2 channel contributed to the hyperactivated MD, primarily to the malfunctioning thalamocortical circuit. Using a lipid nanoparticle-based RNA therapy strategy, channelopathy is corrected via a methoxylated siRNA targeting the protein phosphatase 6 catalytic subunit and restored fear memory extinction in PTSD mice. These findings highlight the function of the thalamocortical circuit in PTSD-related impaired extinction of fear memory and provide therapeutic insights into Kv3.2-targeted RNA therapy for PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haoxiang Xiao
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Kaiwen Xi
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Kaifang Wang
- Department of AnesthesiologyTangdu HospitalFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Yongsheng Zhou
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
- Eastern Theater Air Force Hospital of PLANanjing210000China
| | - Baowen Dong
- Department of NeurosurgeryTangdu HospitalFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Jinyi Xie
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Yuqiao Xie
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Haifeng Zhang
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Guaiguai Ma
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Wenting Wang
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Dayun Feng
- Department of NeurosurgeryTangdu HospitalFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Baolin Guo
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
| | - Shengxi Wu
- Department of NeurobiologySchool of Basic MedicineFourth Military Medical UniversityXi'an710032China
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3
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Lewis MW, Bradford DE, Akman E, Frederiks K, Rauch SL, Rosso IM. Unconditioned response to a naturally aversive stimulus is associated with sensitized defensive responding and self-reported fearful traits in a PTSD sample. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14473. [PMID: 37919832 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Unconditioned responding (UCR) to a naturally aversive stimulus is associated with defensive responding to a conditioned threat cue (CS+) and a conditioned safety cue (CS-) in trauma-exposed individuals during fear acquisition. However, the relationships of UCR with defensive responses during extinction training, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, and fearful traits in trauma-exposed individuals are not known. In a sample of 100 trauma-exposed adults with a continuum of PTSD severity, we recorded startle responses and skin conductance responses (SCR) during fear acquisition and extinction training using a 140 psi, 250-ms air blast to the larynx as the unconditioned stimulus. We explored dimensional associations of two different measures of UCR (unconditioned startle and unconditioned SCR) with conditioned defensive responding to CS+ and CS-, conditioned fear (CS+ minus CS-), PTSD symptom severity, and a measure of fearful traits (composite of fear survey schedule, anxiety sensitivity index, and Connor-Davidson resilience scale). Unconditioned startle was positively associated with startle potentiation to the threat cue and the safety cue across both learning phases (CS+ Acquisition, CS- Acquisition, CS+ Extinction Training, CS- Extinction Training) and with fearful traits. Unconditioned SCR was positively associated with SCR to the CS+ and CS- and SCR difference score during Acquisition. Neither type of UCR was associated with PTSD symptom severity. Our findings suggest that UCR, particularly unconditioned startle to a naturally aversive stimulus, may inform research on biomarkers and treatment targets for symptoms of pervasive and persistent fear in trauma-exposed individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael W Lewis
- Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Daniel E Bradford
- School of Psychological Science, Oregon State University, Oregon, USA
| | - Eylül Akman
- Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Kevin Frederiks
- Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Scott L Rauch
- Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Isabelle M Rosso
- Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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4
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Rosas-Vidal LE, Naskar S, Mayo LM, Perini I, Altemus M, Engelbrektsson H, Jagasia P, Heilig M, Patel S. PREFRONTAL CORRELATES OF FEAR GENERALIZATION DURING ENDOCANNABINOID DEPLETION. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.30.577847. [PMID: 38352388 PMCID: PMC10862899 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.30.577847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Maladaptive fear generalization is one of the hallmarks of trauma-related disorders. The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) is crucial for modulating anxiety, fear, and stress adaptation but its role in balancing fear discrimination versus generalization is not known. To address this, we used a combination of plasma endocannabinoid measurement and neuroimaging from a childhood maltreatment exposed and non-exposed mixed population combined with human and rodent fear conditioning models. Here we show that 2-AG levels are inversely associated with fear generalization at the behavioral level in both mice and humans. In mice, 2-AG depletion increases the proportion of neurons, and the similarity between neuronal representations, of threat-predictive and neutral stimuli within prelimbic prefrontal cortex ensembles. In humans, increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortical-amygdala resting state connectivity is inversely correlated with fear generalization. These data provide convergent cross-species evidence that 2-AG is a key regulator of fear generalization and suggest 2-AG deficiency could represent a trauma-related disorder susceptibility endophenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis E Rosas-Vidal
- Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, IL
| | - Saptarnab Naskar
- Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, IL
| | - Leah M Mayo
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Linköping University, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Irene Perini
- Linköping University, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Megan Altemus
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Nashville, TN
| | - Hilda Engelbrektsson
- Linköping University, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Puja Jagasia
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Nashville, TN
| | - Markus Heilig
- Linköping University, Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Sachin Patel
- Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, IL
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5
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Wendt J, Kuhn M, Hamm AO, Lonsdorf TB. Recent advances in studying brain-behavior interactions using functional imaging: The primary startle response pathway and its affective modulation in humans. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14364. [PMID: 37402156 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
The startle response is a cross-species defensive reflex that is considered a key tool for cross-species translational emotion research. While the neural pathway mediating (affective) startle modulation has been extensively studied in rodents, human work on brain-behavior interactions has lagged in the past due to technical challenges, which have only recently been overcome through non-invasive simultaneous EMG-fMRI assessments. We illustrate key paradigms and methodological tools for startle response assessment in rodents and humans and review evidence for primary and modulatory neural circuits underlying startle responses and their affective modulation in humans. Based on this, we suggest a refined and integrative model for primary and modulatory startle response pathways in humans concluding that there is strong evidence from human work on the neurobiological pathway underlying the primary startle response while evidence for the modulatory pathway is still sparse. In addition, we provide methodological considerations to guide future work and provide an outlook on new and exciting perspectives enabled through technical and theoretical advances outlined in this work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Wendt
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, University of Potsdam, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Manuel Kuhn
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Tina B Lonsdorf
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Bielefeld, Germany
- Institute for Psychology, Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
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6
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Webb EK, Ely TD, Rowland GE, Lebois LAM, van Rooij SJH, Bruce SE, Jovanovic T, House SL, Beaudoin FL, An X, Neylan TC, Clifford GD, Linnstaedt SD, Germine LT, Bollen KA, Rauch SL, Haran JP, Storrow AB, Lewandowski C, Musey PI, Hendry PL, Sheikh S, Jones CW, Punches BE, Swor RA, Pascual JL, Seamon MJ, Datner EM, Pearson C, Peak DA, Merchant RC, Domeier RM, Rathlev NK, Sergot P, Sanchez LD, Kessler RC, Koenen KC, McLean SA, Stevens JS, Ressler KJ, Harnett NG. Neighborhood Disadvantage and Neural Correlates of Threat and Reward Processing in Survivors of Recent Trauma. JAMA Netw Open 2023; 6:e2334483. [PMID: 37721751 PMCID: PMC10507487 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.34483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Importance Differences in neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics are important considerations in understanding differences in risk vs resilience in mental health. Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with alterations in the function and structure of threat neurocircuitry. Objective To investigate associations of neighborhood disadvantage with white and gray matter and neural reactivity to positive and negative stimuli in the context of trauma exposure. Design, Setting, and Participants In this cross-sectional study, survivors of trauma who completed sociodemographic and posttraumatic symptom assessments and neuroimaging were recruited as part of the Advancing Understanding of Recovery After Trauma (AURORA) study between September 2017 and June 2021. Data analysis was performed from October 25, 2022, to February 15, 2023. Exposure Neighborhood disadvantage was measured with the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) for each participant home address. Main Outcomes and Measures Participants completed separate threat and reward tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Diffusion-weighted and high-resolution structural images were also collected. Linear models assessed the association of ADI with reactivity, microstructure, and macrostructure of a priori regions of interest after adjusting for income, lifetime trauma, sex at birth, and age. A moderated-mediation model tested whether ADI was associated with neural activity via microstructural changes and if this was modulated by PTSD symptoms. Results A total of 280 participants (183 females [65.4%]; mean [SD] age, 35.39 [13.29] years) completed the threat task and 244 participants (156 females [63.9%]; mean [SD] age, 35.10 [13.26] years) completed the reward task. Higher ADI (per 1-unit increase) was associated with greater insula (t274 = 3.20; β = 0.20; corrected P = .008) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; t274 = 2.56; β = 0.16; corrected P = .04) threat-related activity after considering covariates, but ADI was not associated with reward reactivity. Greater disadvantage was also associated with altered microstructure of the cingulum bundle (t274 = 3.48; β = 0.21; corrected P = .001) and gray matter morphology of the ACC (cortical thickness: t273 = -2.29; β = -0.13; corrected P = .02; surface area: t273 = 2.53; β = 0.13; corrected P = .02). The moderated-mediation model revealed that ADI was associated with ACC threat reactivity via cingulum microstructural changes (index of moderated mediation = -0.02). However, this mediation was only present in individuals with greater PTSD symptom severity (at the mean: β = -0.17; standard error = 0.06, t= -2.28; P = .007; at 1 SD above the mean: β = -0.28; standard error = 0.08; t = -3.35; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance In this study, neighborhood disadvantage was associated with neurobiology that supports threat processing, revealing associations of neighborhood disadvantage with neural susceptibility for PTSD and suggesting how altered structure-function associations may complicate symptoms. Future work should investigate specific components of neighborhood disadvantage that may be associated with these outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Kate Webb
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Timothy D Ely
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Grace E Rowland
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - Lauren A M Lebois
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Sanne J H van Rooij
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Steven E Bruce
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-St Louis
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
| | - Stacey L House
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri
| | - Francesca L Beaudoin
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Xinming An
- Institute for Trauma Recovery, Department of Anesthesiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Thomas C Neylan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
- Department Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
| | - Gari D Clifford
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta
| | - Sarah D Linnstaedt
- Institute for Trauma Recovery, Department of Anesthesiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Laura T Germine
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- The Many Brains Project, Belmont, Massachusetts
- Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kenneth A Bollen
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Scott L Rauch
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - John P Haran
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts
| | - Alan B Storrow
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | | | - Paul I Musey
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis
| | - Phyllis L Hendry
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville
| | - Sophia Sheikh
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville
| | - Christopher W Jones
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, New Jersey
| | - Brittany E Punches
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus
- College of Nursing, Ohio State University, Columbus
| | - Robert A Swor
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, Michigan
| | - Jose L Pascual
- Department of Surgery, Division of Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Mark J Seamon
- Department of Surgery, Division of Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care and Emergency Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Elizabeth M Datner
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Claire Pearson
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Wayne State University, Ascension St John Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
| | - David A Peak
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
| | - Roland C Merchant
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Robert M Domeier
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Trinity Health-Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Michigan
| | - Niels K Rathlev
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate, Springfield
| | - Paulina Sergot
- Department of Emergency Medicine, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, Houston, Texas
| | - Leon D Sanchez
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ronald C Kessler
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Karestan C Koenen
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Samuel A McLean
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Institute for Trauma Recovery, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Jennifer S Stevens
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Nathaniel G Harnett
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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7
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Zoladz PR, Cordes CN, Weiser JN, Reneau KE, Boaz KM, Helwig SJ, Virden EM, Thebeault CK, Pfister CL, Getnet BA, Niese TD, Parker SL, Stanek ML, Long KE, Norrholm SD, Rorabaugh BR. Pre-Learning Stress That Is Temporally Removed from Acquisition Impairs Fear Learning. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:775. [PMID: 37372060 DOI: 10.3390/biology12060775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Few studies have examined the time-dependent effects of stress on fear learning. Previously, we found that stress immediately before fear conditioning enhanced fear learning. Here, we aimed to extend these findings by assessing the effects of stress 30 min prior to fear conditioning on fear learning and fear generalization. Two hundred and twenty-one healthy adults underwent stress (socially evaluated cold pressor test) or a control manipulation 30 min before completing differential fear conditioning in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. One visual stimulus (CS+), but not another (CS-), was associated with an aversive airblast to the throat (US) during acquisition. The next day, participants were tested for their fear responses to the CS+, CS-, and several generalization stimuli. Stress impaired the acquisition of fear on Day 1 but had no significant impact on fear generalization. The stress-induced impairment of fear learning was particularly evident in participants who exhibited a robust cortisol response to the stressor. These findings are consistent with the notion that stress administered 30 min before learning impairs memory formation via corticosteroid-related mechanisms and may help us understand how fear memories are altered in stress-related psychological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip R Zoladz
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Chloe N Cordes
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Jordan N Weiser
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Kassidy E Reneau
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Kayla M Boaz
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Sara J Helwig
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Emma M Virden
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Caitlin K Thebeault
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Cassidy L Pfister
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Bruktawit A Getnet
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Taylor D Niese
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Sydney L Parker
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Mercedes L Stanek
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Kristen E Long
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Seth D Norrholm
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
| | - Boyd R Rorabaugh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA
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8
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Laricchiuta D, Panuccio A, Picerni E, Biondo D, Genovesi B, Petrosini L. The body keeps the score: The neurobiological profile of traumatized adolescents. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 145:105033. [PMID: 36610696 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Trauma-related disorders are debilitating psychiatric conditions that affect people who have directly or indirectly witnessed adversities. Experiencing multiple types of traumas appears to be common during childhood, and even more so during adolescence. Dramatic brain/body transformations occurring during adolescence may provide a highly responsive substrate to external stimuli and lead to trauma-related vulnerability conditions, such as internalizing (anxiety, depression, anhedonia, withdrawal) and externalizing (aggression, delinquency, conduct disorders) problems. Analyzing relations among neuronal, endocrine, immune, and biochemical signatures of trauma and internalizing and externalizing behaviors, including the role of personality traits in shaping these conducts, this review highlights that the marked effects of traumatic experience on the brain/body involve changes at nearly every level of analysis, from brain structure, function and connectivity to endocrine and immune systems, from gene expression (including in the gut) to the development of personality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Laricchiuta
- Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences & Education, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
| | - Anna Panuccio
- Laboratory of Experimental and Behavioral Neurophysiology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Department of Psychology, University Sapienza of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Eleonora Picerni
- Laboratory of Experimental and Behavioral Neurophysiology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; Department of Neuroscience Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | | | | | - Laura Petrosini
- Laboratory of Experimental and Behavioral Neurophysiology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
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9
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Lokshina Y, Sheynin J, Vogt GS, Liberzon I. Fear Extinction Learning in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023; 64:257-270. [PMID: 37535308 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2023_436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Impairments in fear extinction processes have been implicated in the genesis and maintenance of debilitating psychopathologies, including Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD, classified as a trauma- and stressor-related disorder, is characterized by four symptom clusters: intrusive recollections of trauma, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, alterations in cognition and mood, and hyperarousal. One of the key pathological feature associated with the persistence of these symptoms is impaired fear extinction, as delineated in multiple studies employing Pavlovian fear-conditioning paradigms. These paradigms, comprising fear acquisition, extinction, extinction recall, and fear renewal phases, have illuminated the neurobiological substrates of PTSD. Dysfunctions in the neural circuits that mediate these fear learning and extinction processes can result in failure to extinguish fear responses and retain extinction memory, giving rise to enduring experience of fear and anxiety. The protective avoidance behaviors observed in individuals with PTSD further exacerbate intrusive symptoms and pose challenges to effective treatment strategies. A comprehensive analysis of fear conditioning and extinction processes, along with the underlying neurobiology, could significantly enhance our understanding of PTSD pathophysiology. This chapter delineates the role of fear extinction processes in PTSD, investigates the underlying neurobiological substrates, and underscores the therapeutic implications, while also identifying future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yana Lokshina
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Bryan, TX, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Jony Sheynin
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Bryan, TX, USA
| | - Gregory S Vogt
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Bryan, TX, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Israel Liberzon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Bryan, TX, USA.
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
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10
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Zoladz P, Reneau K, Weiser J, Cordes C, Virden E, Helwig S, Thebeault C, Pfister C, Getnet B, Boaz K, Niese T, Stanek M, Long K, Parker S, Rorabaugh B, Norrholm S. Childhood Maltreatment in Females Is Associated with Enhanced Fear Acquisition and an Overgeneralization of Fear. Brain Sci 2022; 12:1536. [PMID: 36421860 PMCID: PMC9688290 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12111536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 11/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Childhood maltreatment may alter fear neurocircuitry, which results in pathological anxiety and depression. One alteration of fear-related behaviors that has been observed in several psychiatric populations is an overgeneralization of fear. Thus, we examined the association between childhood maltreatment and fear generalization in a non-clinical sample of young adults. Two hundred and ninety-one participants underwent differential fear conditioning in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. One visual stimulus (CS+), but not another (CS-), was associated with an aversive airblast to the throat (US) during acquisition. The next day, participants were tested for their fear responses to the CS+, CS-, and several generalization stimuli (GS) without the presence of the US. Participants also completed questionnaires that assessed symptoms of childhood maltreatment, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants reporting high childhood maltreatment (n = 71; 23 males, 48 females) exhibited significantly greater anxiety, depression, and symptoms of PTSD than participants reporting low childhood maltreatment (n = 220; 133 males, 87 females). Females reporting high childhood maltreatment demonstrated significantly enhanced fear learning and greater fear generalization, based on their fear-potentiated startle responses. Our findings suggest that childhood maltreatment may sex-dependently influence the development of fear neurocircuitry and result in greater fear generalization in maltreated females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Zoladz
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Kassidy Reneau
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Jordan Weiser
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Chloe Cordes
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Emma Virden
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Sara Helwig
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Caitlin Thebeault
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Cassidy Pfister
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Bruktawit Getnet
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Kayla Boaz
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Taylor Niese
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Mercedes Stanek
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Kristen Long
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Sydney Parker
- Psychology Program, The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH 45810, USA
| | - Boyd Rorabaugh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Marshall University School of Pharmacy, Huntington, WV 25755, USA
| | - Seth Norrholm
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
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11
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Wang C, La Barrie DL, Powers A, Stenson AF, van Rooij SJH, Stevens JS, Jovanovic T, Bradley B, McGee RE, Fani N. Associations of maternal emotion regulation with child white matter connectivity in Black American mother-child dyads. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22303. [PMID: 36282745 PMCID: PMC9608357 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Parental emotion regulation plays a major role in parent-child interactions, and in turn, neural plasticity in children, particularly during sensitive developmental periods. However, little is known about how parental emotion dysregulation is associated with variation in children's brain structure, which was the goal of this study. Forty-five Black American mother-child dyads were recruited from an intergenerational trauma study; emotion regulation in mothers and their children (age 8-13 years) was assessed. Diffusion-weighted images were collected in children; deterministic tractography was used to reconstruct pathways of relevance to emotion regulation. Metrics of white matter connectivity [fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD)] were extracted for pathways. Socio-economic variables were also included in statistical models. Maternal emotion dysregulation was the strongest predictor of child fornix MD (r = .35, p = .001), indicating that more severe emotion dysregulation in mothers corresponded with lower fornix connectivity in children. Maternal impulsivity was a strong predictor of child fornix MD (r = .51, p < .001). Maternal emotion dysregulation may adversely influence connectivity of the child.s fornix, a hippocampal-striatal pathway implicated in reward processes; these associations remained even after accounting for other socio-environmental factors. Dysregulated maternal emotions may uniquely impact children's adaptation to trauma/stress by affecting networks that support appetitive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenyang Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | - Abigail Powers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Anais F Stenson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Sanne J H van Rooij
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jennifer S Stevens
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| | - Bekh Bradley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Decatur, Georgia, USA
| | - Robin E McGee
- Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Negar Fani
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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12
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Espinosa L, Bonsall MB, Becker N, Holmes EA, Olsson A. Pavlovian threat conditioning can generate intrusive memories that persist over time. Behav Res Ther 2022; 157:104161. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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13
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Fani N, Harnett NG, Bradley B, Mekawi Y, Powers A, Stevens JS, Ressler KJ, Carter SE. Racial Discrimination and White Matter Microstructure in Trauma-Exposed Black Women. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 91:254-261. [PMID: 34776124 PMCID: PMC8714668 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Experiences of racial discrimination are linked to a range of negative brain health outcomes, but little is known about how these experiences impact neural architecture, including white matter microstructure, which may partially mediate these outcomes. Our goal was to examine associations between racially discriminatory experiences and white matter structural integrity in a sample of Black American women. METHODS We recruited 116 Black American women as part of a long-standing study of trauma. Participants completed assessments of racial discrimination, trauma exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder and underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity values were extracted from major white matter tracts throughout the brain. RESULTS Experiences of racial discrimination were associated with significantly lower fractional anisotropy in multiple white matter tracts, including the corpus callosum, cingulum, and superior longitudinal fasciculus (ps < .004), even after accounting for variance associated with trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and demographic- and scanner-related factors. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that experiences of racial discrimination are independently related to decrements in white matter microarchitecture throughout the brain. In individuals who have experienced other types of adversity, racial discrimination clearly has additive and distinctive deleterious effects on white matter structure. Our findings suggest a pathway through which racial discrimination can contribute to brain health disparities in Black Americans; the deleterious contributions of racial discrimination on the microstructure of major white matter pathways may increase vulnerability for the development of neurodegenerative disorders as well as the development of mental health problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Negar Fani
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
| | - Nathaniel G Harnett
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Bekh Bradley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, Georgia
| | - Yara Mekawi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Abigail Powers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Jennifer S Stevens
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Sierra E Carter
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
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14
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Weis CN, Huggins AA, Miskovich TA, Fitzgerald JM, Bennett KP, Krukowski JL, Webb EK, deRoon-Cassini TA, Larson CL. Acute White Matter Integrity Post-trauma and Prospective Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:742198. [PMID: 34658821 PMCID: PMC8511512 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.742198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Little is known about what distinguishes those who are resilient after trauma from those at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous work indicates white matter integrity may be a useful biomarker in predicting PTSD. Research has shown changes in the integrity of three white matter tracts-the cingulum bundle, corpus callosum (CC), and uncinate fasciculus (UNC)-in the aftermath of trauma relate to PTSD symptoms. However, few have examined the predictive utility of white matter integrity in the acute aftermath of trauma to predict prospective PTSD symptom severity in a mixed traumatic injury sample. Method: Thus, the current study investigated acute brain structural integrity in 148 individuals being treated for traumatic injuries in the Emergency Department of a Level 1 trauma center. Participants underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging 2 weeks post-trauma and completed several self-report measures at 2-weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2), including the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-V (CAPS-5), post-injury. Results: Consistent with previous work, T1 lesser anterior cingulum fractional anisotropy (FA) was marginally related to greater T2 total PTSD symptoms. No other white matter tracts were related to PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: Results demonstrate that in a traumatically injured sample with predominantly subclinical PTSD symptoms at T2, acute white matter integrity after trauma is not robustly related to the development of chronic PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest the timing of evaluating white matter integrity and PTSD is important as white matter differences may not be apparent in the acute period after injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carissa N. Weis
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Ashley A. Huggins
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | | | | | | | | | - E. Kate Webb
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Terri A. deRoon-Cassini
- Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Christine L. Larson
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States
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15
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Fani N, Stenson AF, van Rooij SJH, La Barrie DL, Jovanovic T. White matter microstructure in trauma-exposed children: Associations with pubertal stage. Dev Sci 2021; 24:e13120. [PMID: 33983665 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Puberty represents a critical period in maturation during which major changes in neural architecture emerge; these changes are shaped, in part, by environmental experiences, including exposure to psychological trauma. However, little is known about how trauma exposure affects white matter microstructure across pubertal stages. This was the goal of the present cross-sectional study. Forty-one male and female African-American children between ages 8-13 were recruited as part of a study of developmental trauma and received assessments of trauma exposure, including violence, and pubertal development as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Significant interactions of pubertal stage and violent trauma exposure were observed in association with a marker of white matter integrity (mean diffusivity, MD) in the corpus callosum, cingulum bundle and uncinate fasciculus. Greater violent trauma exposure was associated with lower MD in the hippocampal cingulum and uncinate fasciculus in girls, but not boys. These data from a sample of trauma-exposed children may reflect a pattern of accelerated maturation in pathways that are critical for emotion regulation as well as attention and memory processes. It appears that fronto-limbic and callosal connections are particularly sensitive to the effects of violent trauma, revealing a potential pathway through which trauma creates vulnerability for later psychiatric and neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Negar Fani
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Sanne J H van Rooij
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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16
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Harnett NG, Ference EW, Knight AJ, Knight DC. White matter microstructure varies with post-traumatic stress severity following medical trauma. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 14:1012-1024. [PMID: 30519996 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-018-9995-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus are important components of the neural network that mediates the healthy learning, expression, and regulation of emotion. These brain regions are connected by white matter pathways that include the cingulum bundle, uncinate fasciculus, and fornix/stria terminalis. Individuals with trauma and stress-related disorders show dysfunction of the cognitive-affective processes supported by the brain regions these white matter tracts connect. Therefore, variability in the microstructure of these white matter pathways may play an important role in the cognitive-affective dysfunction related to post-traumatic stress disorder. Thus, the current study used diffusion weighted imaging to assess the white matter microstructure of the cingulum bundle, uncinate fasciculus, and fornix/stria terminalis acutely (< 1 month) following trauma. Further, we assessed both acute (i.e., < 1 month) and subacute (i.e., 3 months post-trauma) post-traumatic stress symptom severity. White matter microstructure (assessed < 1 month post-trauma) of the uncinate fasciculus and fornix/stria terminalis varied with acute post-traumatic stress severity (assessed < 1 month post-trauma). Further, white matter microstructure (assessed < 1 month post-trauma) of the cingulum bundle and fornix/stria terminalis varied with subacute post-traumatic stress severity (assessed 3 months post-trauma). The current results suggest white matter architecture of the prefrontal cortex - amygdala network plays an important role in the development of trauma and stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel G Harnett
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235H, 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA
| | - Edward W Ference
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1717 6th Avenue South, Suite 530, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA
| | - Amy J Knight
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1717 6th Avenue South, Suite 530, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA
| | - David C Knight
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235H, 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
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17
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Diez I, Williams B, Kubicki MR, Makris N, Perez DL. Reduced limbic microstructural integrity in functional neurological disorder. Psychol Med 2021; 51:485-493. [PMID: 31769368 PMCID: PMC7247956 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291719003386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a condition at the intersection of neurology and psychiatry. Individuals with FND exhibit corticolimbic abnormalities, yet little is known about the role of white matter tracts in the pathophysiology of FND. This study characterized between-group differences in microstructural integrity, and correlated fiber bundle integrity with symptom severity, physical disability, and illness duration. METHODS A diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study was performed in 32 patients with mixed FND compared to 36 healthy controls. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images were collected along with patient-reported symptom severity, physical disability (Short Form Health Survey-36), and illness duration data. Weighted-degree and link-level graph theory and probabilistic tractography analyses characterized fractional anisotropy (FA) values across cortico-subcortical connections. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons. RESULTS Compared to controls, FND patients showed reduced FA in the stria terminalis/fornix, medial forebrain bundle, extreme capsule, uncinate fasciculus, cingulum bundle, corpus callosum, and striatal-postcentral gyrus projections. Except for the stria terminalis/fornix, these differences remained significant adjusting for depression and anxiety. In within-group analyses, physical disability inversely correlated with stria terminalis/fornix and medial forebrain bundle FA values; illness duration negatively correlated with stria terminalis/fornix white matter integrity. A FND symptom severity composite score did not correlate with FA in patients. CONCLUSIONS In this first DTI study of mixed FND, microstructural differences were observed in limbic and associative tracts implicated in salience, defensive behaviors, and emotion regulation. These findings advance our understanding of neurocircuit pathways in the pathophysiology of FND.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibai Diez
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Gordon Center, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Neurotechnology Laboratory, Tecnalia Health Department, Derio, Spain
| | - Benjamin Williams
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marek R. Kubicki
- Department of Psychiatry, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nikos Makris
- Department of Psychiatry, Center for Morphometric Analysis, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David L. Perez
- Department of Neurology, Functional Neurology Research Group, Behavioral Neurology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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18
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de Souza NL, Parker R, Gonzalez CS, Ryan JD, Esopenko C. Effect of age at time of injury on long-term changes in intrinsic functional connectivity in traumatic brain injury. Brain Inj 2020; 34:1646-1654. [PMID: 33090913 DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2020.1832257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) occur in the acute and chronic phases following traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, few studies have assessed long-term (>1 year) changes in rsFC. METHODS Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) scans were obtained from the Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research Informatics Systems. Patients with primarily mild TBI (n = 39) completed rsfMRI scans at the sub-acute (~10 days) and long-term (~18 months) phases. We examined changes in voxel-based rsFC from anterior medial prefrontal cortex (aMPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) seeds in the default mode network (DMN) between both phases. The effect of age at the time of injury on long-term rsFC was also examined. RESULTS Increased rsFC from the aMPFC and the PCC to frontal and temporal regions was shown at ~18-months post-injury. Widespread increases in rsFC from the aMPFC and between the PCC and frontal regions were shown for younger patients at time of injury, but limited increases of rsFC were noted at ~18 months in older patients. CONCLUSION Long-term increases in rsFC were found following TBI, but age at the time of injury was associated with distinct rsFC profiles suggesting that younger patients show greater increases in rsFC over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola L de Souza
- School of Graduate Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences , Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Rachel Parker
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest , Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Christie S Gonzalez
- Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences, School of Health Professions, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences , Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jennifer D Ryan
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest , Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto , Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto , Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Carrie Esopenko
- Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences, School of Health Professions, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences , Newark, New Jersey, USA
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19
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Harnett NG, Goodman AM, Knight DC. PTSD-related neuroimaging abnormalities in brain function, structure, and biochemistry. Exp Neurol 2020; 330:113331. [PMID: 32343956 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 04/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Although approximately 90% of the U.S. population will experience a traumatic event within their lifetime, only a fraction of those traumatized individuals will develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, approximately 7 out of 100 people in the U.S. will be afflicted by this debilitating condition, which suggests there is substantial inter-individual variability in susceptibility to PTSD. This uncertainty regarding who is susceptible to PTSD necessitates a thorough understanding of the neurobiological processes that underlie PTSD development in order to build effective predictive models for the disorder. In turn, these predictive models may lead to the development of improved diagnostic markers, early intervention techniques, and targeted treatment approaches for PTSD. Prior research has characterized a fear learning and memory network, centered on the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, that plays a key role in the pathology of PTSD. Importantly, changes in the function, structure, and biochemistry of this network appear to underlie the cognitive-affective dysfunction observed in PTSD. The current review discusses prior research that has demonstrated alterations in brain function, structure, and biochemistry associated with PTSD. Further, the potential for future research to address current gaps in our understanding of the neural processes that underlie the development of PTSD is discussed. Specifically, this review emphasizes the need for multimodal neuroimaging research and investigations into the acute effects of posttraumatic stress. The present review provides a framework to move the field towards a comprehensive neurobiological model of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel G Harnett
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Adam M Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - David C Knight
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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20
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Seligowski AV, Harnett NG, Merker JB, Ressler KJ. Nervous and Endocrine System Dysfunction in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Overview and Consideration of Sex as a Biological Variable. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2020; 5:381-391. [PMID: 32033924 PMCID: PMC7150641 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Decades of research into the biological mechanisms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggests that chronic activation of the stress response leads to long-lasting changes in the structure and function of the nervous and endocrine systems. While the prevalence of PTSD is twice as high in females as males, little is known about how sex differences in neuroendocrine systems may contribute to PTSD. In response to the paucity of research on sex-related mechanisms, the National Institutes of Health created a policy that asks researchers to consider sex as a biological variable. This review provides an overview of the current understanding of nervous and endocrine dysfunction in PTSD (e.g., neural circuitry, autonomic arousal, hormonal response), highlighting areas where the influence of sex has been characterized and where further research is needed. We also provide recommendations for using the sex-as-a-biological-variable policy to address specific gaps in PTSD neuroscience research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia V Seligowski
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts.
| | - Nathaniel G Harnett
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - Julia B Merker
- Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Division of Depression and Anxiety, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts
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21
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Ferreira de Sá DS, Römer S, Brückner AH, Issler T, Hauck A, Michael T. Effects of intranasal insulin as an enhancer of fear extinction: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experimental study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45:753-760. [PMID: 31896118 PMCID: PMC7076012 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0593-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Fear-extinction based psychotherapy (exposure) is the most effective method for treating anxiety disorders. Notwithstanding, since some patients show impairments in the unlearning of fear and insufficient fear remission, there is a growing interest in using cognitive enhancers as adjuvants to exposure. As insulin plays a critical role in stress processes and acts as a memory enhancer, this study aimed to assess the capacity of intranasal insulin to augment fear extinction. A double-blind, placebo-controlled differential fear-conditioning paradigm was conducted in 123 healthy participants (63 females). Pictures of faces with neutral expressions were used as conditioned stimuli and electric shocks as unconditioned stimuli. The paradigm consisted of four phases presented on three consecutive days: acquisition (day 1), extinction (day 2), reinstatement and re-extinction (day 3). A single intranasal dose of insulin (160 IU) or placebo was applied on day 2, 45 min before fear extinction. Skin conductance response (SCR), fear-potentiated startle (FPS) and expectancy ratings were assessed. During extinction, the insulin group (independent of sex) showed a significantly stronger decrease in differential FPS in comparison with the placebo group. Furthermore, a sex-specific effect was found for SCR, with women in the insulin group showing a greater decrease of differential SCR both at early extinction and at late re-extinction. Our results provide first evidence that intranasal insulin facilitates fear extinction processes and is therefore a promising adjuvant for extinction-based therapies in anxiety and related disorders. Sex-specific effects should be taken into consideration in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana S. Ferreira de Sá
- 0000 0001 2167 7588grid.11749.3aDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Sonja Römer
- 0000 0001 2167 7588grid.11749.3aDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Alexandra H. Brückner
- 0000 0001 2167 7588grid.11749.3aDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Tobias Issler
- 0000 0001 2167 7588grid.11749.3aDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Alexander Hauck
- 0000 0001 2167 7588grid.11749.3aDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Tanja Michael
- 0000 0001 2167 7588grid.11749.3aDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
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22
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Yeh CL, Levar N, Broos HC, Dechert A, Potter K, Evins AE, Gilman JM. White matter integrity differences associated with post-traumatic stress disorder are not normalized by concurrent marijuana use. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2020; 295:111017. [PMID: 31760337 PMCID: PMC7730843 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2019.111017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Marijuana (MJ) use and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have both been associated with abnormalities in brain white matter tracts, including the cingulum and the anterior thalamic radiations (ATR), which project from subcortical regions to frontal cortex. Studies have not assessed the integrity of these tracts in patients with comorbid PTSD and MJ use. To examine effects of PTSD and MJ use on brain structure, we performed diffusion tensor imaging scans on seventy-two trauma-exposed participants, categorized into four groups: those with PTSD who used MJ at least weekly (PTSD+MJ; n = 20), those with PTSD with no regular MJ use (PTSD; n = 19), trauma-exposed controls without PTSD who used MJ (TEC+MJ; n = 14) and trauma-exposed controls with no PTSD or MJ use (TEC; n = 19). White matter integrity was evaluated by calculating fractional anisotropy (FA). Results showed that while FA values in the right ATR and the cingulum differed across groups, there were no significant interactions between PTSD and MJ in any white matter tracts, indicating that MJ exposure neither normalizes nor worsens white matter abnormalities in those with PTSD. Further study is needed to evaluate the impact of MJ use on other neurobiological markers of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chien-Lin Yeh
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nina Levar
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hannah C Broos
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alyson Dechert
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kevin Potter
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - A Eden Evins
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jodi M Gilman
- Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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23
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Nees F, Pohlack ST, Grimm O, Winkelmann T, Zidda F, Flor H. White matter correlates of contextual pavlovian fear extinction and the role of anxiety in healthy humans. Cortex 2019; 121:179-188. [PMID: 31629196 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2018] [Revised: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/29/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Pavlovian contextual fear extinction is viewed as an important mechanism for behavioral adaptation in everyday life, including challenging situations of stress and anxiety. It has frequently been shown to relate to the function of brain areas like the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), while the role of structural properties, like white matter tracts in these regions, has been less studied. We employed diffusion tensor imaging to determine structural white matter connectivity (cingulum and uncinate fasciculus) correlates of contextual pavlovian fear extinction indicators measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging, skin conductance responses (SCRs) and self-reports of valence, arousal and contingency in 93 healthy individuals. Higher fractional anisotropy values in the hippocampal cingulum were significantly related to higher SCRs during extinction of contextual conditioned responses (explained variance: 11.2%) as an indicator of extinction deficits on the level of physiological arousal. However, FA was neither related to any of the other fear extinction measures, nor did we find associations with functional extinction responses in the hippocampus or mPFC. Trait anxiety was a significant moderator of the SCR-hippocampal cingulum association (explained variance: 32.09%). The data add evidence for a critical role of the hippocampal formation in contextual pavlovian extinction, and, together with the strong effect of trait anxiety, may have implications for the development of anxiety disorders where contextual extinction learning deficits are observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frauke Nees
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
| | - Sebastian T Pohlack
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Oliver Grimm
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Tobias Winkelmann
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Francesca Zidda
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Herta Flor
- Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
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24
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Fani N, Michopoulos V, van Rooij SJ, Clendinen C, Hardy RA, Jovanovic T, Rothbaum BO, Ressler KJ, Stevens JS. Structural connectivity and risk for anhedonia after trauma: A prospective study and replication. J Psychiatr Res 2019; 116:34-41. [PMID: 31181391 PMCID: PMC7039326 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Anhedonia emerges in some people after psychological trauma, reflected by a loss of interest, diminished affect, and detachment. Structural abnormalities in specific neural pathways at the time of trauma may influence the development of these posttraumatic anhedonia (PTA) symptoms. In this prospective study, we determined whether white matter connectivity at around one month post-trauma predicts PTA and other PTSD symptoms at six months post-trauma. Thirty men and women aged 19-62 were recruited from the emergency department of a Level I trauma center. Participants received diffusion tensor imaging at approximately one month post-trauma and clinical assessments at one and six months post-trauma. Probabilistic tractography was used to examine connectivity of select pathways. A replication sample (N = 57) in an independent, cross-sectional dataset of traumatized women was similarly analyzed. Logistic regression results indicated that, after accounting for early PTSD symptoms (at one month) and other clinical risk factors, the integrity of the uncinate fasciculus (UF) uniquely predicted the presence of PTA at six months post-trauma (Beta = -225.6, p < .05). Together, these factors contributed to 76% of the variance in PTA. Integrity of the UF also predicted re-experiencing PTSD symptoms at six months post-trauma. These results were supported in our replication analyses. Our findings indicate that the integrity of the UF around 1 month post-trauma affects vulnerability for the development of anhedonic PTSD symptoms as well as re-experiencing symptoms. Connectivity of this amygdala-ventromedial prefrontal pathway appears to be a salient predictor of anhedonia, above and beyond clinical risk factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Negar Fani
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA.
| | - Vasiliki Michopoulos
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA,Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Sanne J.H. van Rooij
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA
| | - Cherita Clendinen
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA
| | - Raven A. Hardy
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA
| | - Barbara O. Rothbaum
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA
| | - Kerry J. Ressler
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA,McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Jennifer S. Stevens
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USA
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25
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Velasco ER, Florido A, Milad MR, Andero R. Sex differences in fear extinction. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 103:81-108. [PMID: 31129235 PMCID: PMC6692252 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite the exponential increase in fear research during the last years, few studies have included female subjects in their design. The need to include females arises from the knowledge gap of mechanistic processes underlying the behavioral and neural differences observed in fear extinction. Moreover, the exact contribution of sex and hormones in relation to learning and behavior is still largely unknown. Insights from this field could be beneficial as fear-related disorders are twice as prevalent in women compared to men. Here, we review an up-to-date summary of animal and human studies in adulthood that report sex differences in fear extinction from a structural and functional approach. Furthermore, we describe how these factors could contribute to the observed sex differences in fear extinction during normal and pathological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- E R Velasco
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
| | - A Florido
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
| | - M R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
| | - R Andero
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM, Corporació Sanitaria Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Spain; Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
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26
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Attentional control abnormalities in posttraumatic stress disorder: Functional, behavioral, and structural correlates. J Affect Disord 2019; 253:343-351. [PMID: 31078834 PMCID: PMC6857173 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.04.098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attentional disruptions are common in PTSD, but findings across neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have been variable. Few PTSD studies have investigated abnormalities in attention networks using a multi-modal imaging approach and attentional tasks that include emotionally-salient images. This study combined a behavioral task that included these images (emotional Stroop) with functional and structural neuroimaging (fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging; DTI) methods to comprehensively investigate attentional control abnormalities in a highly-traumatized civilian sample. METHODS 48 traumatized women with and without PTSD received clinical assessments, fMRI and DTI. During fMRI, the Affective Stroop (AS), an attentional control task that includes emotionally-salient distractor images (trauma-relevant, positive, neutral) and variable task demands, was administered. RESULTS In response to more difficult AS trials, participants with PTSD demonstrated lower activation in the dorsal and rostral anterior cingulate cortex and greater activation in the insula. This group also showed comparatively poorer performance on positive AS distractor trials, even after adjusting for trauma exposure. Performance on these trials inversely correlated with structural integrity of the cingulum bundle and uncinate fasciculus. CONCLUSIONS Even after adjusting for trauma exposure, participants with PTSD showed worse performance on an attentional control task in the context of emotional stimuli. They also showed relatively lower cognitive control network activation and greater salience network activation. Fronto-parietal and fronto-limbic white matter connectivity corresponded with AS performance. Our findings indicate that attentional control impairments in PTSD are most evident in the context of emotional cues, and are related to decrements in function and structure of cognitive control and salience networks.
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27
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Riggenbach MR, Weiser JN, Mosley BE, Hipskind JJ, Wireman LE, Hess KL, Duffy TJ, Handel JK, Kaschalk MG, Reneau KE, Rorabaugh BR, Norrholm SD, Jovanovic T, Zoladz PR. Immediate pre-learning stress enhances baseline startle response and fear acquisition in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. Behav Brain Res 2019; 371:111980. [PMID: 31145979 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.111980] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Revised: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Extensive work has shown that stress time-dependently influences hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. In particular, stress that is administered immediately before learning enhances long-term memory, while stress that is temporally separated from learning impairs long-term memory. We have extended these findings by examining the impact of immediate, pre-learning stress on an amygdala-dependent fear conditioning task. One hundred and forty-one healthy participants underwent a stress (socially evaluated cold pressor test) or control manipulation immediately before completing differential fear conditioning in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. Participants then completed extinction and extinction memory testing sessions 24 and 48 h later, respectively. Stress administered immediately before acquisition increased baseline startle responses and enhanced fear learning, as evidenced by greater fear-potentiated startle to the CS + . Although no group differences were observed during extinction training on Day 2, stressed participants exhibited evidence of impaired extinction processes on Day 3, an effect that was driven by group differences in acquisition. Importantly, stressed participants' cortisol responses to the stressor on Day 1 were positively associated with CS discrimination on Days 2 and 3. These findings suggest that stress immediately before fear conditioning strengthens fear memory formation and produces a more enduring fear memory, perhaps via corticosteroid activity. Such a paradigm could be useful for understanding factors that influence traumatic memory formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mackenzie R Riggenbach
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Jordan N Weiser
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Brianne E Mosley
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Jennifer J Hipskind
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Leighton E Wireman
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Kelsey L Hess
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Tessa J Duffy
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Julie K Handel
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - MacKenzie G Kaschalk
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Kassidy E Reneau
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Boyd R Rorabaugh
- Department of Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences, Raabe College of Pharmacy, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA
| | - Seth D Norrholm
- Mental Health Service Line, Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Phillip R Zoladz
- Department of Psychology, Sociology, & Criminal Justice, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, 45810, USA.
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28
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Abstract
The processing and regulation of fear is one of the key components of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fear can involve both acute and potential threats that can manifest in different behaviors and result from activity within different neural nodes and networks. Fear circuits have been studied extensively in animal models for several decades and in human neuroimaging research for almost 20 years. Therefore, the centrality of fear processing to PTSD lends the disorder to be more tractable to investigation at the level of brain and behavior, and provides several observable phenotypes that can be linked to PTSD symptoms. Moreover, psychophysiological metrics of fear conditioning offer tools that can be used to shift diagnostic paradigms in psychiatry toward neurobiology-consistent with a Research Domain Criteria approach to PTSD. In general, mammalian fear processing can be divided into fear learning (or acquisition), during which an association develops between previously neutral stimuli and aversive outcomes, and fear extinction, in which the latter associations are suppressed by a new form of learning. This review describes translational research in both fear acquisition and extinction, along with their relevance to PTSD and PTSD treatment, focusing specifically on the empirical value and potential clinical utility of psychophysiological methods.
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29
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Weis CN, Belleau EL, Pedersen WS, Miskovich TA, Larson CL. Structural Connectivity of the Posterior Cingulum Is Related to Reexperiencing Symptoms in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. CHRONIC STRESS 2018; 2. [PMID: 30569027 PMCID: PMC6295657 DOI: 10.1177/2470547018807134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder is a heterogeneous disorder with disturbances in
hyperarousal or avoidance behaviors and intrusive or reexperiencing thoughts.
The uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle are white matter pathways implicated
in stress and trauma pathophysiology, yet their structural integrity related to
posttraumatic stress disorder symptom domains is yet to be understood.
Forty-four trauma-exposed young adults underwent structural and
diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Stress and trauma exposure
indices and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were collected
and used to predict current integrity of the uncinate fasciculus and cingulum
bundle. Severity of reexperiencing posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms was
significantly related to increased fractional anisotropy
(r = .469 p < .001) and decreased mean
diffusivity (r = −.373, p = .013) of the
right posterior cingulum bundle. No other findings emerged with respect to
stress exposure or of hyperarousal (p’s > 0.05) or avoidance
(p’s > 0.2) posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The
posterior cingulum connects medial temporal lobe structures with visual areas in
the occipital lobe and has been implicated in visual memory and self-referential
thought. Increased structural connectivity along this pathway may therefore
explain the emergence of reexperiencing posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.
This along with the lack of results with respect to stress exposure suggests
that structural aberrations in white matter pathways are more strongly linked
with the actual experience of stress-related psychological symptoms than just
exposure to stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carissa N Weis
- University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Department of Psychology, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | | | - Walker S Pedersen
- Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | | | - Christine L Larson
- University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Department of Psychology, Milwaukee, WI, USA
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30
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van Rooij SJH, Stevens JS, Ely TD, Hinrichs R, Michopoulos V, Winters SJ, Ogbonmwan YE, Shin J, Nugent NR, Hudak LA, Rothbaum BO, Ressler KJ, Jovanovic T. The Role of the Hippocampus in Predicting Future Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Recently Traumatized Civilians. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 84:106-115. [PMID: 29110899 PMCID: PMC5860925 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Revised: 09/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in recent trauma survivors is important for early interventions. Impaired inhibition of fear or behavioral responses is thought to be central to PTSD symptomatology, but its role in predicting PTSD is unknown. Here we examine whether brain function during response inhibition early after a civilian trauma can predict future PTSD symptoms. METHODS Participants (original sample, n = 27; replication sample, n = 31) were recruited in the emergency department within 24 hours of trauma exposure. PTSD symptoms were assessed in the emergency department and 1, 3, and 6 months posttrauma. A Go/NoGo procedure in a 3T magnetic resonance imaging scanner was used to measure neural correlates of response inhibition 1 to 2 months posttrauma. Elastic net regression was used to define the most optimal model to predict PTSD symptoms at 3 and 6 months among demographic, clinical, and imaging measures. RESULTS Less hippocampal activation was a significant predictor in the model predicting PTSD symptoms at 3 months (F11,22 = 4.33, p = .01) and 6 months (F9,19 = 4.96, p = .01). Other significant predictors in the model were race and pain level in the emergency department (3 months), and race and baseline depression symptoms (6 months). Using these predictors in a linear regression in the replication sample again resulted in significant models (3 months [F3,23 = 3.03, p = .05], 6 months [F3,20 = 5.74, p = .007]) with hippocampal activation predicting PTSD symptoms at 3 and 6 months. CONCLUSIONS Decreased inhibition-related hippocampal activation soon after trauma predicted future PTSD symptom severity. This finding may contribute to early identification of at-risk individuals and reveals potential targets for intervention or symptom prevention in the aftermath of trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne J H van Rooij
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
| | - Jennifer S Stevens
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Timothy D Ely
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Rebecca Hinrichs
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Vasiliki Michopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Sterling J Winters
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Yvonne E Ogbonmwan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Jaemin Shin
- Center for Advanced Brain Imaging, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Nicole R Nugent
- Division of Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island; Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Lauren A Hudak
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Barbara O Rothbaum
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; McLean Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
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31
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Exposure to an obesogenic diet during adolescence leads to abnormal maturation of neural and behavioral substrates underpinning fear and anxiety. Brain Behav Immun 2018; 70:96-117. [PMID: 29428401 PMCID: PMC7700822 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2018.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2017] [Revised: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obesity are highly prevalent in adolescents. Emerging findings from our laboratory and others are consistent with the novel hypothesis that obese individuals may be predisposed to developing PTSD. Given that aberrant fear responses are pivotal in the pathogenesis of PTSD, the objective of this study was to determine the impact of an obesogenic Western-like high-fat diet (WD) on neural substrates associated with fear. METHODS Adolescent Lewis rats (n = 72) were fed with either the experimental WD (41.4% kcal from fat) or the control diet. The fear-potentiated startle paradigm was used to determine sustained and phasic fear responses. Diffusion tensor imaging metrics and T2 relaxation times were used to determine the structural integrity of the fear circuitry including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). RESULTS The rats that consumed the WD exhibited attenuated fear learning and fear extinction. These behavioral impairments were associated with oversaturation of the fear circuitry and astrogliosis. The BLA T2 relaxation times were significantly decreased in the WD rats relative to the controls. We found elevated fractional anisotropy in the mPFC of the rats that consumed the WD. We show that consumption of a WD may lead to long-lasting damage to components of the fear circuitry. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that consumption of an obesogenic diet during adolescence has a profound impact in the maturation of the fear neurocircuitry. The implications of this research are significant as they identify potential biomarkers of risk for psychopathology in the growing obese population.
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Maddox SA, Kilaru V, Shin J, Jovanovic T, Almli LM, Dias BG, Norrholm SD, Fani N, Michopoulos V, Ding Z, Conneely KN, Binder EB, Ressler KJ, Smith AK. Estrogen-dependent association of HDAC4 with fear in female mice and women with PTSD. Mol Psychiatry 2018; 23:658-665. [PMID: 28093566 PMCID: PMC5513798 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2016.250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2015] [Revised: 10/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Women are at increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a traumatic event. Recent studies suggest that this may be mediated, in part, by circulating estrogen levels. This study evaluated the hypothesis that individual variation in response to estrogen levels contributes to fear regulation and PTSD risk in women. We evaluated DNA methylation from blood of female participants in the Grady Trauma Project and found that serum estradiol levels associates with DNA methylation across the genome. For genes expressed in blood, we examined the association between each CpG site and PTSD diagnosis using linear models that adjusted for cell proportions and age. After multiple test correction, PTSD associated with methylation of CpG sites in the HDAC4 gene, which encodes histone deacetylase 4, and is involved in long-term memory formation and behavior. DNA methylation of HDAC4 CpG sites were tagged by a nearby single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs7570903), which also associated with HDAC4 expression, fear-potentiated startle and resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala in traumatized humans. Using auditory Pavlovian fear conditioning in a rodent model, we examined the regulation of Hdac4 in the amygdala of ovariectomized (OVX) female mice. Hdac4 messenger RNA levels were higher in the amygdala 2 h after tone-shock presentations, compared with OVX-homecage control females. In naturally cycling females, tone-shock presentations increased Hdac4 expression relative to homecage controls for metestrous (low estrogen) but not the proestrous (high estrogen) group. Together, these results support an estrogenic influence of HDAC4 regulation and expression that may contribute to PTSD in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- S A Maddox
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - V Kilaru
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - J Shin
- Center for Advanced Brain Imaging (CABI), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - T Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - L M Almli
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - B G Dias
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - S D Norrholm
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,Atlanta VA Medical Center, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - N Fani
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - V Michopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Z Ding
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - K N Conneely
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - E B Binder
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - K J Ressler
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA,Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - A K Smith
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA,Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, 101 Woodruff Circle NE, Suite 4217, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. E-mail:
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O'Doherty DCM, Ryder W, Paquola C, Tickell A, Chan C, Hermens DF, Bennett MR, Lagopoulos J. White matter integrity alterations in post-traumatic stress disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 39:1327-1338. [PMID: 29265681 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2017] [Revised: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition which can develop after exposure to traumatic stressors. Seventy-five adults were recruited from the community, 25 diagnosed with PTSD along with 25 healthy and 25 trauma-exposed age- and gender-matched controls. Participants underwent clinical assessment and magnetic resonance imaging. A previous voxel based morphometry (VBM) study using the same subject cohort identified decreased grey matter (GM) volumes within frontal/subcortical brain regions including the hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This study examines the microstructural integrity of white matter (WM) tracts connecting the aforementioned regions/structures. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we investigated the integrity of frontal/subcortical WM tracts between all three subject groups. Trauma exposed subjects with and without PTSD diagnosis were identified to have significant disruption in WM integrity as indexed by decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the uncinate fasciculus (UF), cingulum cingulate gyrus (CCG), and corpus callosum (CC), when compared with healthy non-trauma-exposed controls. Significant negative correlations were found between total Clinician Administered PTSD scale (CAPS) lifetime clinical subscores and FA values of PTSD subjects in the right UF, CCG, CC body, and right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). An analysis between UF and SLF FA values and VBM determined rostral ACC GM values found a negative correlation in PTSD subjects. Findings suggest that compromised WM integrity in important tracts connecting limbic structures such as the amygdala to frontal regions including the ACC (i.e., the UF and CCG) may contribute to impairments in threat/fear processing associated with PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel C M O'Doherty
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Will Ryder
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Casey Paquola
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Ashleigh Tickell
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Charles Chan
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Daniel F Hermens
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Max R Bennett
- Brain and Mind Centre, 100 Mallett Street, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 2050, Australia
| | - Jim Lagopoulos
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience - Thompson Institute, 12 Innovation Parkway, Birtinya, Queensland, 4575, Australia
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More than just noise: Inter-individual differences in fear acquisition, extinction and return of fear in humans - Biological, experiential, temperamental factors, and methodological pitfalls. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 80:703-728. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 138] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Revised: 06/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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Stevens JS, Kim YJ, Galatzer-Levy IR, Reddy R, Ely TD, Nemeroff CB, Hudak LA, Jovanovic T, Rothbaum BO, Ressler KJ. Amygdala Reactivity and Anterior Cingulate Habituation Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Maintenance After Acute Civilian Trauma. Biol Psychiatry 2017; 81:1023-1029. [PMID: 28117048 PMCID: PMC5449257 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2016] [Revised: 11/16/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies suggest that exaggerated amygdala reactivity is a vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, our understanding is limited by a paucity of prospective, longitudinal studies. Recent studies in healthy samples indicate that, relative to reactivity, habituation is a more reliable biomarker of individual differences in amygdala function. We investigated reactivity of the amygdala and cortical areas to repeated threat presentations in a prospective study of PTSD. METHODS Participants were recruited from the emergency department of a large level I trauma center within 24 hours of trauma. PTSD symptoms were assessed at baseline and approximately 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after trauma. Growth curve modeling was used to estimate symptom recovery trajectories. Thirty-one individuals participated in functional magnetic resonance imaging around the 1-month assessment, passively viewing fearful and neutral face stimuli. Reactivity (fearful > neutral) and habituation to fearful faces was examined. RESULTS Amygdala reactivity, but not habituation, 5 to 12 weeks after trauma was positively associated with the PTSD symptom intercept and predicted symptoms at 12 months after trauma. Habituation in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with the slope of PTSD symptoms, such that decreases in ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation over repeated presentations of fearful stimuli predicted increasing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Findings point to neural signatures of risk for maintaining PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure. Specifically, chronic symptoms were predicted by amygdala hyperreactivity, and poor recovery was predicted by a failure to maintain ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation in response to fearful stimuli. The importance of identifying patients at risk after trauma exposure is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer S. Stevens
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA,Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 954 Gatewood Dr., Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. (J.S. Stevens)
| | - Ye Ji Kim
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Renuka Reddy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Timothy D. Ely
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Charles B. Nemeroff
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Lauren A. Hudak
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Barbara O. Rothbaum
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Kerry J. Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA,McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
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Hermann A, Stark R, Blecker CR, Milad MR, Merz CJ. Brain structural connectivity and context-dependent extinction memory. Hippocampus 2017; 27:883-889. [PMID: 28498605 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Revised: 04/20/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Extinction of conditioned fear represents an important mechanism in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Return of fear after successful extinction or exposure therapy in patients with anxiety disorders might be linked to poor temporal or contextual generalization of extinction due to individual differences in brain structural connectivity. The goal of this magnetic resonance imaging study was therefore to investigate the association of context-dependent extinction recall with brain structural connectivity. METHODS Diffusion-tensor imaging was used to determine the fractional anisotropy as a measure of white matter structural integrity of fiber tracts connecting central brain regions of the fear and extinction circuit (uncinate fasciculus, cingulum). Forty-five healthy men participated in a two-day fear conditioning experiment with fear acquisition in context A and extinction learning in context B on the first day. Extinction recall in the extinction context as well as renewal in the acquisition context and a novel context C took place one day later. RESULTS Renewal of conditioned fear (skin conductance responses) in the acquisition context was associated with higher structural integrity of the hippocampal part of the cingulum. CONCLUSIONS Enhanced structural integrity of the cingulum might be related to stronger hippocampal modulation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, a region important for modulating conditioned fear output by excitatory projections to the amygdala. This finding underpins the crucial role of individual differences in the structural integrity of relevant fiber tracts for context-dependent extinction recall and return of fear after exposure therapy in anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Hermann
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Rudolf Stark
- Department of Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Carlo R Blecker
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Mohammed R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts
| | - Christian J Merz
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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37
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Galatzer-Levy IR, Andero R, Sawamura T, Jovanovic T, Papini S, Ressler KJ, Norrholm SD. A cross species study of heterogeneity in fear extinction learning in relation to FKBP5 variation and expression: Implications for the acute treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Neuropharmacology 2017; 116:188-195. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.12.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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38
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Mori S, Kageyama Y, Hou Z, Aggarwal M, Patel J, Brown T, Miller MI, Wu D, Troncoso JC. Elucidation of White Matter Tracts of the Human Amygdala by Detailed Comparison between High-Resolution Postmortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Histology. Front Neuroanat 2017; 11:16. [PMID: 28352217 PMCID: PMC5348491 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2017.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The amygdala has attracted considerable research interest because of its potential involvement in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Recently, attempts have been made using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate the integrity of the axonal connections to and from the amygdala under pathological conditions. Although amygdalar pathways have been studied extensively in animal models, anatomical references for the human brain are limited to histology-based resources from a small number of slice locations, orientations and annotations. In the present study, we performed high-resolution (250 μm) MRI of postmortem human brains followed by serial histology sectioning. The histology data were used to identify amygdalar pathways, and the anatomical delineation of the assigned structures was extended into 3D using the MRI data. We were able to define the detailed anatomy of the stria terminalis and amygdalofugal pathway, as well as the anatomy of the nearby basal forebrain areas, including the substantia innominata. The present results will help us understand in detail the white matter structures associated with the amygdala, and will serve as an anatomical reference for the design of in vivo MRI studies and interpretation of their data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susumu Mori
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yusuke Kageyama
- Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Zhipeng Hou
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Manisha Aggarwal
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Jaymin Patel
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Timothy Brown
- Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Michael I Miller
- Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD, USA; Institute for Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimore, MD, USA
| | - Dan Wu
- Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Juan C Troncoso
- Department of Pathology, Division of Neuropathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, USA
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Baczkowski BM, Johnstone T, Walter H, Erk S, Veer IM. Sliding-window analysis tracks fluctuations in amygdala functional connectivity associated with physiological arousal and vigilance during fear conditioning. Neuroimage 2017; 153:168-178. [PMID: 28300639 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Revised: 03/08/2017] [Accepted: 03/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We evaluated whether sliding-window analysis can reveal functionally relevant brain network dynamics during a well-established fear conditioning paradigm. To this end, we tested if fMRI fluctuations in amygdala functional connectivity (FC) can be related to task-induced changes in physiological arousal and vigilance, as reflected in the skin conductance level (SCL). Thirty-two healthy individuals participated in the study. For the sliding-window analysis we used windows that were shifted by one volume at a time. Amygdala FC was calculated for each of these windows. Simultaneously acquired SCL time series were averaged over time frames that corresponded to the sliding-window FC analysis, which were subsequently regressed against the whole-brain seed-based amygdala sliding-window FC using the GLM. Surrogate time series were generated to test whether connectivity dynamics could have occurred by chance. In addition, results were contrasted against static amygdala FC and sliding-window FC of the primary visual cortex, which was chosen as a control seed, while a physio-physiological interaction (PPI) was performed as cross-validation. During periods of increased SCL, the left amygdala became more strongly coupled with the bilateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex, core areas of the salience network. The sliding-window analysis yielded a connectivity pattern that was unlikely to have occurred by chance, was spatially distinct from static amygdala FC and from sliding-window FC of the primary visual cortex, but was highly comparable to that of the PPI analysis. We conclude that sliding-window analysis can reveal functionally relevant fluctuations in connectivity in the context of an externally cued task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blazej M Baczkowski
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Research Group for Neuroanatomy & Connectivity, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany; International Max Planck Research School NeuroCom, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Tom Johnstone
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Henrik Walter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Erk
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ilya M Veer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
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40
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Maeng LY, Milad MR. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Relationship Between the Fear Response and Chronic Stress. CHRONIC STRESS (THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF.) 2017; 1:2470547017713297. [PMID: 32440579 PMCID: PMC7219872 DOI: 10.1177/2470547017713297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Revised: 05/09/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling psychiatric condition that can develop following a physical, psychological, or sexual trauma. Despite the growing body of literature examining the psychological and biological factors involved in PTSD psychopathology, specific biomarkers that may improve diagnosis and treatment of PTSD have yet to be identified and validated. This challenge may be attributed to the diverse array of symptoms that individuals with the disorder manifest. Examining the interrelated stress and fear systems allows for a more comprehensive study of these symptoms, and through this approach, which aligns with the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework, neural and psychophysiological measures of PTSD have emerged. In this review, we discuss PTSD neurobiology and treatment within the context of fear and stress network interactions and elucidate the advantages of using an RDoC approach to better understand PTSD with fear conditioning and extinction paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Y Maeng
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts
General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mohammed R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts
General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard
Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Tottenham N, Galván A. Stress and the adolescent brain: Amygdala-prefrontal cortex circuitry and ventral striatum as developmental targets. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 70:217-227. [PMID: 27473936 PMCID: PMC5074883 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.07.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 174] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2016] [Revised: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a time in development when significant changes occur in affective neurobiology. These changes provide a prolonged period of plasticity to prepare the individual for independence. However, they also render the system highly vulnerable to the effects of environmental stress exposures. Here, we review the human literature on the associations between stress-exposure and developmental changes in amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and ventral striatal dopaminergic systems during the adolescent period. Despite the vast differences in types of adverse exposures presented in his review, these neurobiological systems appear consistently vulnerable to stress experienced during development, providing putative mechanisms to explain why affective processes that emerge during adolescence are particularly sensitive to environmental influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nim Tottenham
- Columbia University, Department of Psychology, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue MC 5501, New York, NY 10027, United States.
| | - Adriana Galván
- University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, 1285 Franz Hall BOX 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States.
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Keedwell PA, Doidge AN, Meyer M, Lawrence N, Lawrence AD, Jones DK. Subgenual Cingulum Microstructure Supports Control of Emotional Conflict. Cereb Cortex 2016; 26:2850-62. [PMID: 27048427 PMCID: PMC4869815 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhw030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with specific difficulties in attentional disengagement from negatively valenced material. Diffusion MRI studies have demonstrated altered white matter microstructure in the subgenual cingulum bundle (CB) in individuals with MDD, though the functional significance of these alterations has not been examined formally. This study explored whether individual differences in selective attention to negatively valenced stimuli are related to interindividual differences in subgenual CB microstructure. Forty-six individuals (21 with remitted MDD, 25 never depressed) completed an emotional Stroop task, using happy and angry distractor faces overlaid by pleasant or unpleasant target words and a control gender-based Stroop task. CBs were reconstructed in 38 individuals using diffusion-weighted imaging and tractography, and mean fractional anisotropy (FA) computed for the subgenual, retrosplenial, and parahippocampal subdivisions. No significant correlations were found between FA and performance in the control gender-based Stroop task in any CB region. However, the degree of interference produced by angry face distractors on time to identify pleasant words (emotional conflict) correlated selectively with FA in the subgenual CB (r = -0.53; P = 0.01). Higher FA was associated with reduced interference, irrespective of a diagnosis of MDD, suggesting that subgenual CB microstructure is functionally relevant for regulating attentional bias toward negative interpersonal stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A. Keedwell
- MRC Centre for Psychiatric Genetics and Genomics
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute
- Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Amie N. Doidge
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute
- School of Psychology and Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Devon, UK
| | - Marcel Meyer
- School of Psychology and Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- Experimental Psychology and Methods, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | | | - Andrew D. Lawrence
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute
- School of Psychology and Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Derek K. Jones
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute
- School of Psychology and Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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43
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Caballero A, Granberg R, Tseng KY. Mechanisms contributing to prefrontal cortex maturation during adolescence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 70:4-12. [PMID: 27235076 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 199] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2016] [Revised: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is defined as a transitional period between childhood and adulthood characterized by changes in social interaction and acquisition of mature cognitive abilities. These changes have been associated with the maturation of brain regions involved in the control of motivation, emotion, and cognition. Among these regions, the protracted development of the human prefrontal cortex during adolescence has been proposed to underlie the maturation of cognitive functions and the regulation of affective responses. Studies in animal models allow us to test the causal contribution of specific neural processes in the development of the prefrontal cortex and the acquisition of adult behavior. This review summarizes the cellular and synaptic mechanisms occurring in the rodent prefrontal cortex during adolescence as a model for understanding the changes underlying human prefrontal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriana Caballero
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Rachel Granberg
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA
| | - Kuei Y Tseng
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science, North Chicago, IL 60064, USA.
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White matter microstructure of the uncinate fasciculus is associated with subthreshold posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and fear potentiated startle during early extinction in recently deployed Service Members. Neurosci Lett 2016; 618:66-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.02.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2015] [Revised: 02/17/2016] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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Fani N, King TZ, Shin J, Srivastava A, Brewster RC, Jovanovic T, Bradley B, Ressler KJ. STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: ASSOCIATIONS WITH FKBP5. Depress Anxiety 2016; 33:300-7. [PMID: 27038411 PMCID: PMC4983452 DOI: 10.1002/da.22483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2016] [Revised: 01/27/2016] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The integrity of connections between the hippocampus and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is critical for adaptive cognitive and emotional processing; these connections may be compromised in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is a lack of PTSD research that combines structural and functional connectivity data, and no studies have examined whether abnormal ACC-hippocampal connectivity is associated with genetic variability, particularly for polymorphisms of a gene that has been previously associated with PTSD, FKBP5. This was the goal of the present study. METHODS Fifty-four women with and without PTSD underwent diffusion tensor imaging and resting-state MRI. Probabilistic tractography was used to examine ACC-hippocampal structural connectivity; mean fractional anisotropy (FA) values were extracted from connectivity streamlines, which represent the cingulum bundle. Genotype data were collected for a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of FKBP5, rs1360780. RESULTS Participants with PTSD demonstrated poorer structural connectivity (lower cingulum FA) compared to traumatized controls (F1, 50 = 6.77, P < .05). An interaction of FKBP5 genotype and diagnostic group was also observed (F1, 37 = 4.52, P = .04), indicating lower cingulum FA in carriers of two risk alleles for this SNP, compared to other diagnostic and genotype groups. Carriers of two FKBP5 risk alleles also demonstrated poorer hippocampus-ACC connectivity at rest (P < .05). When cingulum FA was used a regressor in a brain-wide, seed-based regression analysis, significant associations were found between the hippocampus and dorsal regions of the ACC (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS Individuals with PTSD demonstrated compromised structural connectivity of the hippocampus-ACC pathway. Altered hippocampus-ACC connectivity may represent a highly salient intermediate neural phenotype for PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Negar Fani
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
| | | | | | | | | | - Tanja Jovanovic
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
| | - Bekh Bradley
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,Atlanta VA Medical Center
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
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Top DN, Stephenson KG, Doxey CR, Crowley MJ, Kirwan CB, South M. Atypical Amygdala Response to Fear Conditioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2016; 1:308-315. [PMID: 29560865 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2016.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2015] [Revised: 12/30/2015] [Accepted: 01/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anxiety is the most common comorbid psychiatric concern in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can cause significant functional impairment. Fear conditioning tasks offer a useful neurodevelopmental model for anxiety, yet there are no published neuroimaging studies of fear conditioning using ASD samples. METHODS Twenty adults diagnosed with ASD and 19 healthy adult control subjects completed a standard fear conditioning and extinction paradigm while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. A burst of air on the base of the neck was the unconditioned stimulus. Participants returned 1 day later for scanning during an extinction recall phase. A priori regions of interest were analyzed with a familywise error correction rate < 0.05. RESULTS All regions of interest demonstrated significantly greater response to threat than safe conditions during initial fear acquisition. Compared with age-matched control subjects, the ASD group showed a significantly decreased differential response to threat versus safe cues in right amygdala during the initial fear acquisition phase and decreased response in left amygdala during the first run of extinction recall on the second day of scanning. CONCLUSIONS Symptoms of severe anxiety in ASD may arise from atypical neural mechanisms especially related to the differentiation of threat versus safe cues. An inability to effectively identify safety contexts may underlie chronically increased levels of anxiety in many individuals diagnosed with ASD.
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Greco JA, Liberzon I. Neuroimaging of Fear-Associated Learning. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016; 41:320-34. [PMID: 26294108 PMCID: PMC4677141 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2015] [Revised: 08/14/2015] [Accepted: 08/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Fear conditioning has been commonly used as a model of emotional learning in animals and, with the introduction of functional neuroimaging techniques, has proven useful in establishing the neurocircuitry of emotional learning in humans. Studies of fear acquisition suggest that regions such as amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and hippocampus play an important role in acquisition of fear, whereas studies of fear extinction suggest that the amygdala is also crucial for safety learning. Extinction retention testing points to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex as an essential region in the recall of the safety trace, and explicit learning of fear and safety associations recruits additional cortical and subcortical regions. Importantly, many of these findings have implications in our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychiatric disease. Recent studies using clinical populations have lent insight into the changes in regional activity in specific disorders, and treatment studies have shown how pharmaceutical and other therapeutic interventions modulate brain activation during emotional learning. Finally, research investigating individual differences in neurotransmitter receptor genotypes has highlighted the contribution of these systems in fear-associated learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- John A Greco
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Israel Liberzon
- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Maeng LY, Milad MR. Sex differences in anxiety disorders: Interactions between fear, stress, and gonadal hormones. Horm Behav 2015; 76:106-17. [PMID: 25888456 PMCID: PMC4823998 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 228] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2014] [Revised: 03/26/2015] [Accepted: 04/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "SBN 2014". Women are more vulnerable to stress- and fear-based disorders, such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite the growing literature on this topic, the neural basis of these sex differences remains unclear, and the findings appear inconsistent. The neurobiological mechanisms of fear and stress in learning and memory processes have been extensively studied, and the crosstalk between these systems is beginning to explain the disproportionate incidence and differences in symptomatology and remission within these psychopathologies. In this review, we discuss the intersect between stress and fear mechanisms and their modulation by gonadal hormones and discuss the relevance of this information to sex differences in anxiety and fear-based disorders. Understanding these converging influences is imperative to the development of more effective, individualized treatments that take sex and hormones into account.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Y Maeng
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
| | - Mohammed R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
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Muhie S, Gautam A, Meyerhoff J, Chakraborty N, Hammamieh R, Jett M. Brain transcriptome profiles in mouse model simulating features of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mol Brain 2015; 8:14. [PMID: 25888136 PMCID: PMC4359441 DOI: 10.1186/s13041-015-0104-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2014] [Accepted: 02/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Social-stress mouse model, based on the resident-intruder paradigm was used to simulate features of human post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The model involved exposure of an intruder (subject) mouse to a resident aggressor mouse followed by exposure to trauma reminders with rest periods. C57BL/6 mice exposed to SJL aggressor mice exhibited behaviors suggested as PTSD-in-mouse phenotypes: intermittent freezing, reduced locomotion, avoidance of the aggressor-associated cue and apparent startled jumping. Brain tissues (amygdala, hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, septal region, corpus striatum and ventral striatum) from subject (aggressor exposed: Agg-E) and control C57BL/6 mice were collected at one, 10 and 42 days post aggressor exposure sessions. Transcripts in these brain regions were assayed using Agilent’s mouse genome-wide arrays. Results Pathways and biological processes associated with differentially regulated genes were mainly those thought to be involved in fear-related behavioral responses and neuronal signaling. Expression-based assessments of activation patterns showed increased activations of pathways related to anxiety disorders (hyperactivity and fear responses), impaired cognition, mood disorders, circadian rhythm disruption, and impaired territorial and aggressive behaviors. In amygdala, activations of these pathways were more pronounced at earlier time-points, with some attenuation after longer rest periods. In hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex, activation patterns were observed at later time points. Signaling pathways associated with PTSD-comorbid conditions, such as diabetes, metabolic disorder, inflammation and cardiac infarction, were also significantly enriched. In contrast, signaling processes related to neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity were inhibited. Conclusions Our data suggests activations of behavioral responses associated with anxiety disorders as well as inhibition of neuronal signaling pathways important for neurogenesis, cognition and extinction of fear memory. These pathways along with comorbid-related signaling pathways indicate the pervasive and multisystem effects of aggressor exposure in mice, potentially mirroring the pathologic conditions of PTSD patients. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13041-015-0104-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seid Muhie
- Advanced Biomedical Computing Center, Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702, USA. .,Integrative Systems Biology Program, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702-5010, USA.
| | - Aarti Gautam
- Integrative Systems Biology Program, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702-5010, USA.
| | - James Meyerhoff
- Integrative Systems Biology Program, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702-5010, USA.
| | - Nabarun Chakraborty
- Integrative Systems Biology Program, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702-5010, USA.
| | - Rasha Hammamieh
- Integrative Systems Biology Program, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702-5010, USA.
| | - Marti Jett
- Integrative Systems Biology Program, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research, 568 Doughten Drive, Fort Detrick, MD, 21702-5010, USA.
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