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Liddell BJ, Das P, Malhi GS, Jobson L, Lau W, Felmingham KL, Nickerson A, Askovic M, Aroche J, Coello M, Bryant RA. Self-construal modulates default mode network connectivity in refugees with PTSD. J Affect Disord 2024; 361:268-276. [PMID: 38866252 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While self-construal and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are independently associated with altered self-referential processes and underlying default mode network (DMN) functioning, no study has examined how self-construal affects DMN connectivity in PTSD. METHODS A final sample of 93 refugee participants (48 with DSM-5 PTSD or sub-syndromal PTSD and 45 matched trauma-exposed controls) completed a 5-minute resting state fMRI scan to enable the observation of connectivity in the DMN and other core networks. A self-construal index was calculated by substracting scores on the collectivistic and individualistic sub-scales of the Self Construal Scale. RESULTS Independent components analysis identified 9 active networks-of-interest, and functional network connectivity was determined. A significant interaction effect between PTSD and self-construal index was observed in the anterior ventromedial DMN, with spatial maps localizing this to the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), extending to the ventral anterior cingulate cortex. This effect revealed that connectivity in the vMPFC showed greater reductions in those with PTSD with higher levels of collectivistic self-construal. LIMITATIONS This is an observational study and causality cannot be assumed. The specialized sample of refugees means that the findings may not generalize to other trauma-exposed populations. CONCLUSIONS Such a finding indicates that self-construal may shape the core neural architecture of PTSD, given that functional disruptions to the vmPFC underpin the core mechanisms of extinction learning, emotion dysregulation and self-referential processing in PTSD. Results have important implications for understanding the universality of neural disturbances in PTSD, and suggest that self-construal could be an important consideration in the assessment and treatment of post-traumatic stress reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belinda J Liddell
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, Australia.
| | - Pritha Das
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia; Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District, CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
| | - Gin S Malhi
- Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District, CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia; University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Northern Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Winnie Lau
- Phoenix Australia, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Kim L Felmingham
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - Mirjana Askovic
- NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), Sydney, Australia
| | - Jorge Aroche
- NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), Sydney, Australia
| | - Mariano Coello
- NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), Sydney, Australia
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Zhang X, Chen X, Qu C, Fan L, Zheng J. Aberrant functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in temporal lobe epilepsy with ictal panic. Neurol Sci 2024:10.1007/s10072-024-07730-2. [PMID: 39187672 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-024-07730-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 08/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The amygdala joins the model of fear neurocircuitry for its subregional roles in processing and mediating panic. This study aims to explore the underlying neuromechanisms of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients with ictal panic (IP) by investigating the amygdala subregions functional connectivity (FC) alteration. METHODS 18 TLE patients with IP (TLE-IP group), 23 TLE patients without IP (TLE-none-IP group) and 22 age- and sex- matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled and required to take resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning. The basolateral (BLA), centromedial (CMA), and superficial (SFA) amygdala subregions were extracted from Juelich histological atlas. The amygdala subregions-based FC was computed and compared among three groups. RESULTS The TLE-IP group demonstrated stronger FC between the left BLA and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) than the TLE-none-IP group and HC. Compared with the TLE-none-IP group and HC, the TLE-IP group showed increased FC between the right BLA and right postcentral gyrus. The FC between the left BLA/SFA and the orbital part of right MFG increased in the TLE-IP group. Furthermore, the TLE-IP group exhibited decreased FC between the left CMA and pons. Further analysis indicated altered FC between the amygdala subregions and the pons, precuneus and thalamus in the left-sided TLE-IP group, but the MFG, inferior parietal gyrus, supplementary motor area and cerebellum in the right-sided TLE-IP group. CONCLUSIONS The present study revealed aberrant amygdala subregions-based FC in TLE patients with IP. These findings offer unique insights into the understanding of fear neurocircuitry in TLE patients with IP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Zhang
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Xuemei Chen
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Chuanyong Qu
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Ligen Fan
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Jinou Zheng
- Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
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Varkevisser T, Geuze E, van Honk J. Amygdala fMRI-A Critical Appraisal of the Extant Literature. Neurosci Insights 2024; 19:26331055241270591. [PMID: 39148643 PMCID: PMC11325331 DOI: 10.1177/26331055241270591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Even before the advent of fMRI, the amygdala occupied a central space in the affective neurosciences. Yet this amygdala-centred view on emotion processing gained even wider acceptance after the inception of fMRI in the early 1990s, a landmark that triggered a goldrush of fMRI studies targeting the amygdala in vivo. Initially, this amygdala fMRI research was mostly confined to task-activation studies measuring the magnitude of the amygdala's response to emotional stimuli. Later, interest began to shift more towards the study of the amygdala's resting-state functional connectivity and task-based psychophysiological interactions. Later still, the test-retest reliability of amygdala fMRI came under closer scrutiny, while at the same time, amygdala-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback gained widespread popularity. Each of these major subdomains of amygdala fMRI research has left its marks on the field of affective neuroscience at large. The purpose of this review is to provide a critical assessment of this literature. By integrating the insights garnered by these research branches, we aim to answer the question: What part (if any) can amygdala fMRI still play within the current landscape of affective neuroscience? Our findings show that serious questions can be raised with regard to both the reliability and validity of amygdala fMRI. These conclusions force us to cast doubt on the continued viability of amygdala fMRI as a core pilar of the affective neurosciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Varkevisser
- University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Brain Research and Innovation Center, Ministry of Defence, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Elbert Geuze
- University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Brain Research and Innovation Center, Ministry of Defence, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jack van Honk
- Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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4
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Shang G, Zhou T, Yu X, Yan X, He K, Liu B, Feng Z, Xu J, Zhang Y, Yu X. Chronic hypercortisolism disrupts the principal functional gradient in Cushing's disease: A multi-scale connectomics and transcriptomics study. Neuroimage Clin 2024; 43:103652. [PMID: 39146836 PMCID: PMC11367515 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2024.103652] [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: 05/12/2024] [Revised: 07/22/2024] [Accepted: 08/06/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Cushing's disease (CD) represents a state of cortisol excess, serving as a model to investigate the effects of prolonged hypercortisolism on functional brain. Potential alterations in the functional connectome of the brain may explain frequently reported cognitive deficits and affective disorders in CD patients. This study aims to elucidate the effects of chronic hypercortisolism on the principal functional gradient, which represents a hierarchical architecture with gradual transitions across cognitive processes, by integrating connectomics and transcriptomics approaches. Utilizing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 140 participants (86 CD patients, 54 healthy controls) recruited at a single center, we explored the alterations in the principal gradient in CD patients. Further, we thoroughly explored the underlying associative mechanisms of the observed characteristic alterations with cognitive function domains, biological attributes, and neuropsychiatric representations, as well as gene expression profiles. Compared to healthy controls, CD patients demonstrated changes in connectome patterns in both primary and higher-order networks, exhibiting an overall converged trend along the principal gradient axis. The gradient values in CD patients' right prefrontal cortex and bilateral sensorimotor cortices exhibited a significant correlation with cortisol levels. Moreover, the cortical regions showing gradient alterations were principally associated with sensory information processing and higher-cognitive functions, as well as correlated with the gene expression patterns which involved synaptic components and function. The findings suggest that converged alterations in the principal gradient in CD patients may mediate the relationship between hypercortisolism and cognitive impairments, potentially involving genes regulating synaptic components and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guosong Shang
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Zhou
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Neurosurgery Institute, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoteng Yu
- Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China; Institute of Urology, Peking University, National Urological Cancer Center, Beijing, China
| | - Xinyuan Yan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Kunyu He
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Bin Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Zhebin Feng
- Department of Neurosurgery, PLA 942 Hospital, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China
| | - Junpeng Xu
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China
| | - Yanyang Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Neurosurgery Institute, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
| | - Xinguang Yu
- Department of Neurosurgery, The First Medical Centre of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing, China; Neurosurgery Institute, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
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5
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Borchers LR, Gifuni AJ, Ho TC, Kirshenbaum JS, Gotlib IH. Threat- and reward-related brain circuitry, perceived stress, and anxiety in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal investigation. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2024; 19:nsae040. [PMID: 38874967 PMCID: PMC11219304 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsae040] [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: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to heightened anxiety in adolescents. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) are implicated in response to stress and may contribute to anxiety. The role of threat- and reward-related circuitry in adolescent anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, is not clear. Ninety-nine adolescents underwent resting-state fMRI ∼1 year before the pandemic. Following shelter-in-place orders, adolescents reported their perceived stress and, 1 month later, their anxiety. Generalized multivariate analyses identified BLA and NAcc seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity maps with perceived stress. In the resulting significant clusters, we examined the association between seed-based connectivityand subsequent anxiety. Perceived stress was associated with bilateral BLA and NAcc connectivity across distributed clusters that included prefrontal, limbic, temporal, and cerebellar regions. Several NAcc connectivity clusters located in ventromedial prefrontal, parahippocampal, and temporal cortices were positively associated with anxiety; NAcc connectivity with the inferior frontal gyrus was negatively associated. BLA connectivity was not associated with anxiety. These results underscore the integrative role of the NAcc in responding to acute stressors and its relation to anxiety in adolescents. Elucidating the involvement of subcortical-cortical circuitry in adolescents' capacity to respond adaptively to environmental challenges can inform treatment for anxiety-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren R Borchers
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
| | - Anthony J Gifuni
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
- Psychiatry Department and Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Tiffany C Ho
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
| | - Jaclyn S Kirshenbaum
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Ian H Gotlib
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
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Davis LL, Hamner MB. Post-traumatic stress disorder: the role of the amygdala and potential therapeutic interventions - a review. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1356563. [PMID: 38903645 PMCID: PMC11187309 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1356563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder triggered by exposure to a life-threatening or sexually violent traumatic event, and is characterized by symptoms involving intrusive re-experiencing, persistent avoidance of associated stimuli, emotional and cognitive disturbances, and hyperarousal for long periods after the trauma has occurred. These debilitating symptoms induce occupational and social impairments that contribute to a significant clinical burden for PTSD patients, and substantial socioeconomic costs, reaching approximately $20,000 dollars per individual with PTSD each year in the US. Despite increased translational research focus in the field of PTSD, the development of novel, effective pharmacotherapies for its treatment remains an important unmet clinical need. Observations In this review, we summarize the evidence implicating dysfunctional activity of the amygdala in the pathophysiology of PTSD. We identify the transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) ion channels as promising drug targets given their distribution in the amygdala, and evidence from animal studies demonstrating their role in fear response modulation. We discuss the evidence-based pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy treatment approaches for PTSD. Discussion In view of the prevalence and economic burden associated with PTSD, further investigation is warranted into novel treatment approaches based on our knowledge of the involvement of brain circuitry and the role of the amygdala in PTSD, as well as the potential added value of combined pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy to better manage PTSD symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lori L. Davis
- Mental Health Service, Birmingham VA Health Care System, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Alabama College of Community Health Science, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
| | - Mark B. Hamner
- Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
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7
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Xu H, Zhang T, Li L, Qu Y, Li L, Yan Y, Wu L, Yan C. Paeoniflorin exerts anti-PTSD effects in adult rats by modulating hippocampus and amygdala histone acetylation modifications in response to early life stress. Chem Biol Interact 2024; 396:111035. [PMID: 38703807 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2024.111035] [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: 10/22/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) can cause long-term changes by epigenetic factors, especially histone acetylation modification, playing a crucial role, affect normal cognition, mood, and behavior, and increase susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. It has been found that paeoniflorin (PF) can cross the blood-brain barrier to exert anti-PTSD effects on adult PTSD rats. However, whether PF can alleviate the harmful effects caused by ELS in adulthood has not yet been reported. Therefore, to explore the relationship between ELS and PTSD susceptibility in adulthood and its mechanism, in this study, SPS was used as a stressor of ELS, and the mathematical tool Z-normalization was employed as an evaluation criterion of behavioral resilience susceptibility. To investigate the regulatory mechanism of PF on histone acetylation in the hippocampus and amygdala of ELS rats in adulthood, using changes in HATs/HDACs as the entry point, meanwhile, the epigenetic marks (H3K9 and H4K12) in the key brain regions of ELS (hippocampus and amygdala) were evaluated, and the effects of PF on behavioral representation and PTSD susceptibility were observed. This study found that ELS lead to a series of PTSD-like behaviors in adulthood and caused imbalance of HATs/HDACs ratio in the hippocampus and amygdala, which confirms that ELS is an important risk factor for the development of PTSD in adulthood. In addition, paeoniflorin may improve ELS-induced PTSD-like behaviors and reduce the susceptibility of ELS rats to develop PTSD in adulthood by modulating the HATs/HDACs ratio in the hippocampus and amygdala.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanfang Xu
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China.
| | - Tiange Zhang
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China.
| | - Ling Li
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China
| | - Yue Qu
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China
| | - Lanxin Li
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China
| | - Yuqi Yan
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China
| | - Lili Wu
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China.
| | - Can Yan
- Research Center of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510006, PR China.
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8
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Haris EM, Bryant RA, Korgaonkar MS. Structural covariance, topological organization, and volumetric features of amygdala subnuclei in posttraumatic stress disorder. Neuroimage Clin 2024; 42:103619. [PMID: 38744025 PMCID: PMC11108976 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2024.103619] [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: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 04/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
The amygdala is divided into functional subnuclei which have been challenging to investigate due to functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) limitations in mapping small neural structures. Hence their role in the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains poorly understood. Examination of covariance of structural MRI measures could be an alternate approach to circumvent this issue. T1-weighted anatomical scans from a 3 T scanner from non-trauma-exposed controls (NEC; n = 71, 75 % female) and PTSD participants (n = 67, 69 % female) were parcellated into 105 brain regions. Pearson's r partial correlations were computed for three and nine bilateral amygdala subnuclei and every other brain region, corrected for age, sex, and total brain volume. Pairwise correlation comparisons were performed to examine subnuclei covariance profiles between-groups. Graph theory was employed to investigate subnuclei network topology. Volumetric measures were compared to investigate structural changes. We found differences between amygdala subnuclei in covariance with the hippocampus for both groups, and additionally with temporal brain regions for the PTSD group. Network topology demonstrated the importance of the right basal nucleus in facilitating network communication only in PTSD. There were no between-group differences for any of the three structural metrics. These findings are in line with previous work that has failed to find structural differences for amygdala subnuclei between PTSD and controls. However, differences between amygdala subnuclei covariance profiles observed in our study highlight the need to investigate amygdala subnuclei functional connectivity in PTSD using higher field strength fMRI for better spatial resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M Haris
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Richard A Bryant
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Mayuresh S Korgaonkar
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Department of Radiology, Western Sydney Local Health District, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
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9
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Norred MA, Zuschlag ZD, Hamner MB. A Neuroanatomic and Pathophysiologic Framework for Novel Pharmacological Approaches to the Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Drugs 2024; 84:149-164. [PMID: 38413493 DOI: 10.1007/s40265-023-01983-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder inflicting high degrees of symptomatic and socioeconomic burdens. The development of PTSD results from a cascade of events with contributions from multiple processes and the underlying pathophysiology is complex, involving neurotransmitters, neurocircuitry, and neuroanatomical pathways. Presently, only two medications are US FDA-approved for the treatment of PTSD, both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, the complex underlying pathophysiology suggests a number of alternative pathways and mechanisms that may be targets for potential drug development. Indeed, investigations and drug development are proceeding in a number of these alternative, non-serotonergic pathways in an effort to improve the management of PTSD. In this manuscript, the authors introduce novel and emerging treatments for PTSD, including drugs in various stages of development and clinical testing (BI 1358894, BNC-210, PRAX-114, JZP-150, LU AG06466, NYV-783, PH-94B, SRX246, TNX-102), established agents and known compounds being investigated for their utility in PTSD (brexpiprazole, cannabidiol, doxasoin, ganaxolone, intranasal neuropeptide Y, intranasal oxytocin, tianeptine oxalate, verucerfont), and emerging psychedelic interventions (ketamine, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy), with an aim to examine and integrate these agents into the underlying pathophysiological frameworks of trauma-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Norred
- Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences Service, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Zachary D Zuschlag
- Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences Service, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Mark B Hamner
- Behavioral Health Service, Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, 109 Bee Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
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10
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Haris EM, Bryant RA, Williamson T, Korgaonkar MS. Functional connectivity of amygdala subnuclei in PTSD: a narrative review. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:3581-3594. [PMID: 37845498 PMCID: PMC10730419 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02291-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
While the amygdala is often implicated in the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the pattern of results remains mixed. One reason for this may be the heterogeneity of amygdala subnuclei and their functional connections. This review used PRISMA guidelines to synthesize research exploring the functional connectivity of three primary amygdala subnuclei, basolateral (BLA), centromedial (CMA), and superficial nuclei (SFA), in PTSD (N = 331) relative to trauma-exposed (N = 155) and non-trauma-exposed controls (N = 210). Although studies were limited (N = 11), preliminary evidence suggests that in PTSD compared to trauma-exposed controls, the BLA shows greater connectivity with the dorsal anterior cingulate, an area involved in salience detection. In PTSD compared to non-trauma-exposed controls, the BLA shows greater connectivity with the middle frontal gyrus, an area involved in attention. No other connections were replicated across studies. A secondary aim of this review was to outline the limitations of this field to better shape future research. Importantly, the results from this review indicate the need to consider potential mediators of amygdala subnuclei connectivity, such as trauma type and sex, when conducting such studies. They also highlight the need to be aware of the limited inferences we can make with such small samples that investigate small subcortical structures on low field strength magnetic resonance imaging scanners. Collectively, this review demonstrates the importance of exploring the differential connectivity of amygdala subnuclei to understand the pathophysiology of PTSD and stresses the need for future research to harness the strength of ultra-high field imaging to gain a more sensitive picture of the neural connectivity underlying PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M Haris
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
| | - Richard A Bryant
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Thomas Williamson
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Mayuresh S Korgaonkar
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
- Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
- Western Sydney Local Health District, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
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11
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Nasrullah N, Kerr WT, Stern JM, Wang Y, Tatekawa H, Lee JK, Karimi AH, Sreenivasan SS, Engel J, Eliashiv DE, Feusner JD, Salamon N, Savic I. Amygdala subfield and prefrontal cortex abnormalities in patients with functional seizures. Epilepsy Behav 2023; 145:109278. [PMID: 37356226 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Functional seizures (FS) are paroxysmal episodes, resembling epileptic seizures, but without underlying epileptic abnormality. The aetiology and neuroanatomic associations are incompletely understood. Recent brain imaging data indicate cerebral changes, however, without clarifying possible pathophysiology. In the present study, we specifically investigated the neuroanatomic changes in subregions of the amygdala and hippocampus in FS. METHODS T1 MRI scans of 37 female patients with FS and 37 age-matched female seizure naïve controls (SNC) were analyzed retrospectively in FreeSurfer version 7.1. Seizure naïve controls included patients with depression and anxiety disorders. The analysis included whole-brain cortical thickness, subcortical volumes, and subfields of the amygdala and hippocampus. Group comparisons were carried out using multivariable linear models. RESULTS The FS and SNC groups did not differ in the whole hippocampus and amygdala volumes. However, patients had a significant reduction of the right lateral amygdala volume (p = 0.00041), an increase of the right central amygdala, (p = 0.037), and thinning of the left superior frontal gyrus (p = 0.024). Additional findings in patients were increased volumes of the right medial amygdala (p = 0.031), left anterior amygdala (p = 0.017), and left dentate gyrus of the hippocampus (p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS The observations from the amygdala and hippocampus segmentation affirm that there are neuroanatomic associations of FS. The pattern of these changes aligned with some of the cerebral changes described in chronic stress conditions and depression. The pattern of detected changes further study, and may, after validation, provide biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nilab Nasrullah
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Neurology Clinic, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Wesley T Kerr
- Department of Neurology, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - John M Stern
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yanlu Wang
- Medical Radiation Physics and Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Hiroyuki Tatekawa
- Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - John K Lee
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amir H Karimi
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Siddhika S Sreenivasan
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jerome Engel
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Dawn E Eliashiv
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jamie D Feusner
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Noriko Salamon
- Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ivanka Savic
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Neurology Clinic, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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12
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Hall NT, Hallquist MN. Dissociation of basolateral and central amygdala effective connectivity predicts the stability of emotion-related impulsivity in adolescents and emerging adults with borderline personality symptoms: a resting-state fMRI study. Psychol Med 2023; 53:3533-3547. [PMID: 35225192 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291722000101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with altered activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and amygdala, yet no studies have examined fronto-limbic circuitry in borderline adolescents and emerging adults. Here, we examined the contribution of fronto-limbic effective connectivity (EC) to the longitudinal stability of emotion-related impulsivity, a key feature of BPD, in symptomatic adolescents and young adults. METHODS We compared resting-state EC in 82 adolescents and emerging adults with and without clinically significant borderline symptoms (n BPD = 40, ages 13-30). Group-specific directed networks were estimated amongst fronto-limbic nodes including PFC, ventral striatum (VS), central amygdala (CeN), and basolateral amygdala (BLA). We examined the association of directed centrality metrics with initial levels and rates of change in emotion-related impulsivity symptoms over a one-year follow-up using latent growth curve models (LGCMs). RESULTS In controls, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsal ACC had a directed influence on CeN and VS, respectively. In the BPD group, bilateral BLA had a directed influence on CeN, whereas in the healthy group CeN influenced BLA. LGCMs indicated that emotion-related impulsivity was stable across a one-year follow-up in the BPD group. Further, higher EC of R CeN to other regions in controls was associated with stronger within-person decreases in emotion-related impulsivity. CONCLUSIONS Functional inputs from BLA and vmPFC appear to play competing roles in influencing CeN activity. In borderline adolescents and young adults, BLA may predominate over CeN activity, while in controls the ability of CeN to influence BLA activity predicted more rapid reductions in emotion-related impulsivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan T Hall
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Michael N Hallquist
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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13
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Chaposhloo M, Nicholson AA, Becker S, McKinnon MC, Lanius R, Shaw SB. Altered Resting-State functional connectivity in the anterior and posterior hippocampus in Post-traumatic stress disorder: The central role of the anterior hippocampus. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 38:103417. [PMID: 37148709 PMCID: PMC10193024 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Post-traumatic stress disorder can be viewed as a memory disorder, with trauma-related flashbacks being a core symptom. Given the central role of the hippocampus in autobiographical memory, surprisingly, there is mixed evidence concerning altered hippocampal functional connectivity in PTSD. We shed light on this discrepancy by considering the distinct roles of the anterior versus posterior hippocampus and examine how this distinction may map onto whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity patterns among those with and without PTSD. METHODS We first assessed whole-brain between-group differences in the functional connectivity profiles of the anterior and posterior hippocampus within a publicly available data set of resting-state fMRI data from 31 male Vietnam war veterans diagnosed with PTSD (mean age = 67.6 years, sd = 2.3) and 29 age-matched combat-exposed male controls (age = 69.1 years, sd = 3.5). Next, the connectivity patterns of each subject within the PTSD group were correlated with their PTSD symptom scores. Finally, the between-group differences in whole-brain functional connectivity profiles discovered for the anterior and posterior hippocampal seeds were used to prescribe post-hoc ROIs, which were then used to perform ROI-to-ROI functional connectivity and graph-theoretic analyses. RESULTS The PTSD group showed increased functional connectivity of the anterior hippocampus with affective brain regions (anterior/posterior insula, orbitofrontal cortex, temporal pole) and decreased functional connectivity of the anterior/posterior hippocampus with regions involved in processing bodily self-consciousness (supramarginal gyrus). Notably, decreased anterior hippocampus connectivity with the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus was associated with increased PTSD symptom severity. The left anterior hippocampus also emerged as a central locus of abnormal functional connectivity, with graph-theoretic measures suggestive of a more central hub-like role for this region in those with PTSD compared to trauma-exposed controls. CONCLUSIONS Our results highlight that the anterior hippocampus plays a critical role in the neurocircuitry underlying PTSD and underscore the importance of the differential roles of hippocampal sub-regions in serving as biomarkers of PTSD. Future studies should investigate whether the differential patterns of functional connectivity stemming from hippocampal sub-regions is observed in PTSD populations other than older war veterans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Chaposhloo
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrew A Nicholson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada; Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Royal Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Suzanna Becker
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Margaret C McKinnon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; Mood Disorders Program, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ruth Lanius
- Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Neuroscience, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada; Imaging Division, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Saurabh Bhaskar Shaw
- Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Homewood Research Institute, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
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Feola B, Flook EA, Gardner H, Phan KL, Gwirtsman H, Olatunji B, Blackford JU. Altered bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and amygdala responses to threat in combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress 2023; 36:359-372. [PMID: 36938747 PMCID: PMC10548436 DOI: 10.1002/jts.22918] [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: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 03/21/2023]
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) significantly impacts many veterans. Although PTSD has been linked to alterations in the fear brain network, the disorder likely involves alterations in both the fear and anxiety networks. Fear involves responses to imminent, predictable threat and is driven by the amygdala, whereas anxiety involves responses to potential, unpredictable threat and engages the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). The BNST has been implicated in PTSD, but the role of the BNST in combat veterans with PTSD has yet to be examined. Identifying alterations in BNST responses to unpredictable threat could provide important new targets for treatment. The current study examined whether veterans with PTSD have altered BNST or amygdala responses (function and connectivity) to unpredictable and predictable threat. The fMRI task involved viewing predictable threat cues followed by threat images, predictable neutral cues followed by neutral images, and unpredictable threat cues followed by either a threat or neutral image. Participants included 32 combat-exposed veterans with PTSD and 13 combat-exposed controls without PTSD. Across all conditions, veterans with PTSD had heightened BNST activation and displayed stronger BNST and amygdala connectivity with multiple fear and anxiety regions (hypothalamus, hippocampus, insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex) relative to controls. In contrast, combat controls showed a pattern of stronger connectivity during neutral conditions (e.g., BNST-vmPFC), which may suggest a neural signature of resilience to developing PTSD, ηp 2 = .087-.527, ps < .001. These findings have implications for understanding fear and anxiety networks that may contribute to the development and maintenance of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandee Feola
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Flook
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Hannah Gardner
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - K Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Harry Gwirtsman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Tennessee Valley HealthCare System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Bunmi Olatunji
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Jennifer Urbano Blackford
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Tennessee Valley HealthCare System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
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15
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Gimbel SI, Wang CC, Hungerford L, Twamley EW, Ettenhofer ML. Associations of mTBI and post-traumatic stress to amygdala structure and functional connectivity in military Service Members. FRONTIERS IN NEUROIMAGING 2023; 2:1129446. [PMID: 37554633 PMCID: PMC10406312 DOI: 10.3389/fnimg.2023.1129446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the highest public health priorities, especially among military personnel where comorbidity with post-traumatic stress symptoms and resulting consequences is high. Brain injury and post-traumatic stress symptoms are both characterized by dysfunctional brain networks, with the amygdala specifically implicated as a region with both structural and functional abnormalities. METHODS This study examined the structural volumetrics and resting state functional connectivity of 68 Active Duty Service Members with or without chronic mild TBI (mTBI) and comorbid symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Structural analysis of the amygdala revealed no significant differences in volume between mTBI and healthy comparison participants with and without post-traumatic stress symptoms. Resting state functional connectivity with bilateral amygdala revealed decreased anterior network connectivity and increased posterior network connectivity in the mTBI group compared to the healthy comparison group. Within the mTBI group, there were significant regions of correlation with amygdala that were modulated by PTS severity, including networks implicated in emotional processing and executive functioning. An examination of a priori regions of amygdala connectivity in the default mode network, task positive network, and subcortical structures showed interacting influences of TBI and PTS, only between right amygdala and right putamen. These results suggest that mTBI and PTS are associated with hypo-frontal and hyper-posterior amygdala connectivity. Additionally, comorbidity of these conditions appears to compound these neural activity patterns. PTS in mTBI may change neural resource recruitment for information processing between the amygdala and other brain regions and networks, not only during emotional processing, but also at rest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah I. Gimbel
- Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, Silver Spring, MD, United States
- Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, VA, United States
| | - Cailynn C. Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Lars Hungerford
- Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, Silver Spring, MD, United States
- Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, VA, United States
| | - Elizabeth W. Twamley
- Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Mark L. Ettenhofer
- Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, Silver Spring, MD, United States
- Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, VA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
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16
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Singleton SP, Wang JB, Mithoefer M, Hanlon C, George MS, Mithoefer A, Mithoefer O, Coker AR, Yazar-Klosinski B, Emerson A, Doblin R, Kuceyeski A. Altered brain activity and functional connectivity after MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Front Psychiatry 2023; 13:947622. [PMID: 36713926 PMCID: PMC9879604 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.947622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated promise in multiple clinical trials. MDMA is hypothesized to facilitate the therapeutic process, in part, by decreasing fear response during fear memory processing while increasing extinction learning. The acute administration of MDMA in healthy controls modifies recruitment of brain regions involved in the hyperactive fear response in PTSD such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and insula. However, to date there have been no neuroimaging studies aimed at directly elucidating the neural impact of MDMA-AT in PTSD patients. Methods We analyzed brain activity and connectivity via functional MRI during both rest and autobiographical memory (trauma and neutral) response before and two-months after MDMA-AT in nine veterans and first-responders with chronic PTSD of 6 months or more. Results We hypothesized that MDMA-AT would increase amygdala-hippocampus resting-state functional connectivity, however we only found evidence of a trend in the left amygdala-left hippocampus (t = -2.91, uncorrected p = 0.0225, corrected p = 0.0901). We also found reduced activation contrast (trauma > neutral) after MDMA-AT in the cuneus. Finally, the amount of recovery from PTSD after MDMA-AT correlated with changes in four functional connections during autobiographical memory recall: the left amygdala-left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), left amygdala-right PCC, left amygdala-left insula, and left isthmus cingulate-left posterior hippocampus. Discussion Amygdala-insular functional connectivity is reliably implicated in PTSD and anxiety, and both regions are impacted by MDMA administration. These findings compliment previous research indicating that amygdala, hippocampus, and insula functional connectivity is a potential target of MDMA-AT, and highlights other regions of interest related to memory processes. More research is necessary to determine if these findings are specific to MDMA-AT compared to other types of treatment for PTSD. Clinical trial registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02102802, identifier NCT02102802.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Parker Singleton
- Department of Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Julie B. Wang
- MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, San Jose, CA, United States
| | - Michael Mithoefer
- MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, San Jose, CA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Colleen Hanlon
- Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
| | - Mark S. George
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
- Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Annie Mithoefer
- MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, San Jose, CA, United States
| | - Oliver Mithoefer
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States
| | - Allison R. Coker
- MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, San Jose, CA, United States
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | | | - Amy Emerson
- MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, San Jose, CA, United States
| | - Rick Doblin
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, San Jose, CA, United States
| | - Amy Kuceyeski
- Department of Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
- Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States
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17
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LaBar KS. Neuroimaging of Fear Extinction. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023; 64:79-101. [PMID: 37455302 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2023_429] [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] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Extinguishing fear and defensive responses to environmental threats when they are no longer warranted is a critical learning ability that can promote healthy self-regulation and, ultimately, reduce susceptibility to or maintenance of affective-, trauma-, stressor-,and anxiety-related disorders. Neuroimaging tools provide an important means to uncover the neural mechanisms of effective extinction learning that, in turn, can abate the return of fear. Here I review the promises and pitfalls of functional neuroimaging as a method to investigate fear extinction circuitry in the healthy human brain. I discuss the extent to which neuroimaging has validated the core circuits implicated in rodent models and has expanded the scope of the brain regions implicated in extinction processes. Finally, I present new advances made possible by multivariate data analysis tools that yield more refined insights into the brain-behavior relationships involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin S LaBar
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
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18
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Jagielski CH, Harer KN. Working with Trauma in the Gastroenterology Setting. Gastroenterol Clin North Am 2022; 51:867-883. [PMID: 36376001 DOI: 10.1016/j.gtc.2022.07.012] [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] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Patients with gastrointestinal (GI) complaints report high rates of previous psychological trauma such as physical, emotional abuse and neglect, sexual trauma, and other traumatic experiences. History of trauma is considered a risk factor for the development of disorders of gut-brain interaction, including irritable bowel syndrome. This article discusses key points for providers in understanding how various aspects of trauma can affect patients' physical and mental health and medical interactions, as well as trauma-informed strategies providers can use to increase patient comfort, improve communication, and improve effectiveness of treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina H Jagielski
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan/Michigan Medicine, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, 3912, SPC 5362, Ann Arbor 48109 - 5362, USA.
| | - Kimberly N Harer
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan/Michigan Medicine, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, 3912, SPC 5362, Ann Arbor 48109 - 5362, USA
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Nanni-Zepeda M, Alizadeh S, Chand T, Kasties V, Fan Y, van der Meer J, Herrmann L, Vester JC, Schulz M, Naschold B, Walter M. Trait anxiety is related to Nx4's efficacy on stress-induced changes in amygdala-centered resting state functional connectivity: a placebo-controlled cross-over trial in mildly to moderately stressed healthy volunteers. BMC Neurosci 2022; 23:68. [PMID: 36434512 PMCID: PMC9694608 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-022-00754-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The multicomponent drug Neurexan (Nx4) was shown to reduce the neural stress network activation. We now investigated its effects on stress-induced resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in dependence of trait anxiety (TA), an acknowledged vulnerability factor for stress-induced psychopathologies. METHODS Nx4 was tested in a randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial. Resting state fMRI scans were performed before and after a psychosocial stress task and exploratively analyzed for amygdala centered RSFC. Effects of Nx4 on stress-induced RSFC changes were evaluated and correlated to TA levels. A subgroup analysis based on TA scores was performed. RESULTS Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between TA and Nx4 effect on stress-induced RSFC changes between right amygdala and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) and ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). For participants with above average TA, a significant amelioration of the stress-induced RSFC changes was observed. CONCLUSIONS The data add evidence to the hypothesis that Nx4's clinical efficacy is based on a dampened activation of the neural stress network, with a greater neural response in subjects with anxious personality traits. Further studies assessing clinically relevant outcome measures in parallel to fMRI are encouraged to evaluate the real-world benefit of Nx4. Trial registration NCT02602275.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanni Nanni-Zepeda
- grid.275559.90000 0000 8517 6224Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Sarah Alizadeh
- grid.275559.90000 0000 8517 6224Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Tara Chand
- grid.275559.90000 0000 8517 6224Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Vanessa Kasties
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Yan Fan
- grid.419241.b0000 0001 2285 956XLeibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Ardeystraße 67, 44139 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Johan van der Meer
- grid.509540.d0000 0004 6880 3010Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Luisa Herrmann
- grid.275559.90000 0000 8517 6224Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Johannes C. Vester
- idv Data Analysis and Study Planning, Tassilostraße 6, 82131 Gauting, Germany
| | - Myron Schulz
- grid.476093.f0000 0004 0629 2294Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, Dr.-Reckeweg-Str. 2-4, 76532 Baden-Baden, Germany
| | - Britta Naschold
- grid.476093.f0000 0004 0629 2294Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, Dr.-Reckeweg-Str. 2-4, 76532 Baden-Baden, Germany
| | - Martin Walter
- grid.275559.90000 0000 8517 6224Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
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20
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Chand T, Alizadeh S, Li M, Fan Y, Jamalabadi H, Danyeli L, Nanni-Zepeda M, Herrmann L, Van der Meer J, Vester JC, Schultz M, Naschold B, Walter M. Nx4 Modulated Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex in a Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial. Brain Connect 2022; 12:812-822. [PMID: 35438535 PMCID: PMC9805862 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2021.0189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: The basic functional organization of the resting brain, assessed as resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), can be affected by previous stress experience and it represents the basis on which subsequent stress experience develops. Notably, the rsFC between the amygdala and the cortical regions associated with emotion regulation and anxiety are affected during stress. The multicomponent drug Neurexan® (Nx4) has previously demonstrated a reduction in amygdala activation in an emotional face matching task and it ameliorated stress-related symptoms. We, thus, investigated the effect of Nx4 on rsFC of the amygdala before stress induction compared with baseline in mildly to moderately stressed participants. Methods: In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial 39 participants received a single dose of placebo or Nx4. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed pre-dose and 40 to 60 min post-dose, before any stress induction. First, highly connected functional hubs were identified by global functional connectivity density (gFCD) analysis. Second, by using a seed-based approach, rsFC maps of the left centromedial amygdala (CeMA) were created. The effect of Nx4 on both was evaluated. Results: The medial prefrontal cortex was identified as a relevant functional hub affected by Nx4 in an explorative whole brain gFCD analysis. Using the seed-based approach, we then demonstrated that Nx4 significantly enhanced the negative connectivity between the left CeMA and two cortical regions: the dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortices. Conclusions: In a resting-state condition, Nx4 reduced the prefrontal cortex gFCD and strengthened the functional coupling between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex that is relevant for emotion regulation and the stress response. Further studies should elaborate whether this mechanism represents enhanced regulatory control of the amygdala at rest and, consequently, to a diminished susceptibility to stress. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02602275.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Chand
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Sarah Alizadeh
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Meng Li
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Yan Fan
- Department Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the TU Dortmund (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany
| | - Hamidreza Jamalabadi
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Lena Danyeli
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Melanni Nanni-Zepeda
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Luisa Herrmann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Johan Van der Meer
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | | | | | - Martin Walter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.,Address correspondence to: Martin Walter, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Leipziger Str. 44, Tübingen 39120, Germany
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21
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Environmental enrichment mitigates PTSD-like behaviors in adult male rats exposed to early life stress by regulating histone acetylation in the hippocampus and amygdala. J Psychiatr Res 2022; 155:120-136. [PMID: 36029624 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.07.067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS) can cause long-term changes in gene expression, affect cognition, mood, and behavior, and increase susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood, in which the histone acetylation plays a crucial role. Studies have found that environmental enrichment (EE) mitigated the unfavorable outcomes of ELS. However, the underlying mechanism of the histone acetylation is not yet completely clear. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of EE on the histone acetylation after ELS. In this study, using single prolonged stress (SPS) paradigm in early adolescent rats explored the long-term effects of ELS on behavior, the activity of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), as well as the acetylation levels of the lysine 9 site of histone H3 (H3K9) and lysine 12 site of histone H4 (H4K12) in the hippocampus and amygdala. Meanwhile, the protective effects of EE intervention were examined. We found that adult male rats exposed to ELS showed behavioral changes, including reduced locomotor activity, increased anxiety-like behaviors, impaired spatial learning and memory, enhanced contextual and cued fear memory, and the HATs/HDACs ratio and acetyl H3K9 (Ac-H3K9) and acetyl H4K12 (Ac-H4K12) were increased in the hippocampus and decreased in the amygdala. Furthermore, EE attenuated the behavioral abnormalities from ELS, possibly through down-regulating the activity of HATs in the hippocampus and up-regulating HDACs activities in the amygdala. These finding suggested that EE could ameliorate ELS-induced PTSD-like behaviors by regulating histone acetylation in the hippocampus and amygdala, reducing the susceptibility to PTSD in adulthood.
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22
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Liu YF, Pan L, Feng M. Structural and functional brain alterations in Cushing's disease: A narrative review. Front Neuroendocrinol 2022; 67:101033. [PMID: 36126747 DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Neurocognitive and psychiatric symptoms are non-negligible in Cushing's disease and are accompanied by structural and functional alterations of the brain. In this review, we have summarized multimodal neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies to highlight the current and historical understandings of the structural and functional brain alterations in Cushing's disease. Specifically, structural studies showed atrophy of the gray matter, loss of white matter integrity, and demyelination in widespread brain regions. Functional imaging studies have identified three major functional brain connectome networks influenced by hypercortisolemia: the limbic network, the default mode network, and the executive control network. After endocrinological remission, atrophy of gray matter regions and the compromised functional network activities were partially reversible, and the widespread white matter integrity alterations cannot recover in years. In conclusion, Cushing's disease patients display structural and functional brain connectomic alterations, which provides insights into the neurocognitive and psychiatric symptoms observed in this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Fan Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China; Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
| | - Lei Pan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China; School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Ming Feng
- Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
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23
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Jaffe AE, Tao R, Page SC, Maynard KR, Pattie EA, Nguyen CV, Deep-Soboslay A, Bharadwaj R, Young KA, Friedman MJ, Williamson DE, Shin JH, Hyde TM, Martinowich K, Kleinman JE. Decoding Shared Versus Divergent Transcriptomic Signatures Across Cortico-Amygdala Circuitry in PTSD and Depressive Disorders. Am J Psychiatry 2022; 179:673-686. [PMID: 35791611 PMCID: PMC10697016 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21020162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disease that is highly comorbid with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder. The overlap in symptoms is hypothesized to stem from partially shared genetics and underlying neurobiological mechanisms. To delineate conservation between transcriptional patterns across PTSD and MDD, the authors examined gene expression in the human cortex and amygdala in these disorders. METHODS RNA sequencing was performed in the postmortem brain of two prefrontal cortex regions and two amygdala regions from donors diagnosed with PTSD (N=107) or MDD (N=109) as well as from neurotypical donors (N=109). RESULTS The authors identified a limited number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) specific to PTSD, with nearly all mapping to cortical versus amygdala regions. PTSD-specific DEGs were enriched in gene sets associated with downregulated immune-related pathways and microglia as well as with subpopulations of GABAergic inhibitory neurons. While a greater number of DEGs associated with MDD were identified, most overlapped with PTSD, and only a few were MDD specific. The authors used weighted gene coexpression network analysis as an orthogonal approach to confirm the observed cellular and molecular associations. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide supporting evidence for involvement of decreased immune signaling and neuroinflammation in MDD and PTSD pathophysiology, and extend evidence that GABAergic neurons have functional significance in PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew E. Jaffe
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Genetic Medicine, McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - Ran Tao
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Keith A. Young
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan TX
- Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Waco, TX
- Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, TX, 76504, USA
- Baylor Scott & White Psychiatry, Temple, TX
| | - Matthew J. Friedman
- Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dartmouth Hanover, NH
- National Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
| | - Douglas E. Williamson
- Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, 300 North Duke St, Durham, North Carolina
- Durham VA Healthcare System, 508 Fulton St, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | - Joo Heon Shin
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
| | - Thomas M. Hyde
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Keri Martinowich
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Joel E. Kleinman
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
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24
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Leite L, Esper NB, Junior JRML, Lara DR, Buchweitz A. An exploratory study of resting-state functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in posttraumatic stress disorder following trauma in adulthood. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9558. [PMID: 35688847 PMCID: PMC9187646 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13395-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
We carried out an exploratory study aimed at identifying differences in resting-state functional connectivity for the amygdala and its subregions, right and left basolateral, centromedial and superficial nuclei, in patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), relative to controls. The study included 10 participants with PTSD following trauma in adulthood (9 females), and 10 controls (9 females). The results suggest PTSD was associated with a decreased (negative) functional connectivity between the superficial amygdala and posterior brain regions relative to controls. The differences were observed between right superficial amygdala and right fusiform gyrus, and between left superficial amygdala and left lingual and left middle occipital gyri. The results suggest that among PTSD patients, the worse the PTSD symptoms, the lower the connectivity. The results corroborate the fMRI literature that shows PTSD is associated with weaker amygdala functional connectivity with areas of the brain involved in sensory and perceptual processes. The results also suggest that though the patients traumatic experience occured in adulthood, the presence of early traumatic experiences were associated with negative connectivity between the centromedial amygdala and sensory and perceptual regions. We argue that the understanding of the mechanisms of PTSD symptoms, its behaviors and the effects on quality of life of patients may benefit from the investigation of brain function that underpins sensory and perceptual symptoms associated with the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leticia Leite
- School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, 90619-900, Brazil.
| | - Nathalia Bianchini Esper
- School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, 90619-900, Brazil
- Brain Institute (BraIns), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, 90610-000, Brazil
| | - José Roberto M Lopes Junior
- School of Psychology and Health, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, 90050-170, Brazil
| | | | - Augusto Buchweitz
- School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, 90619-900, Brazil.
- Brain Institute (BraIns), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, 90610-000, Brazil.
- Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Stamford, 06269-1020, United States of America.
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25
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Distinct alterations of amygdala subregional functional connectivity in early- and late-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Affect Disord 2022; 298:421-430. [PMID: 34748823 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Age of onset may be an important feature associated with distinct subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The amygdala joined neurocircuitry models of OCD for its role in mediating fear and regulating anxiety. The present study aims to identify the underlying pathophysiological specifics in OCD with different onset times by assessing amygdala subregional functional connectivity (FC) alterations in early-onset OCD (EO-OCD) and late-onset OCD (LO-OCD). METHODS Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 88 medication-free OCD patients (including 30 EO-OCD and 58 LO-OCD) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) for each patient group. Onset-by-diagnosis interactions were examined and comparisons between each OCD group and the corresponding HC group were performed regarding the FC of amygdala subregions including the basolateral amygdala (BLA), centromedial amygdala (CMA), superficial amygdala (SFA) and amygdalostriatal transition area (Astr). RESULTS Significant onset-by-diagnosis interactions were found in FC between bilateral SFA, right CMA, left Astr and the cerebellum. EO-OCD patients showed abnormally increased BLA/SFA-cerebellum, BLA-precuneus and BLA/SFA-fusiform connectivity in addition to decreased BLA/SFA-orbitofrontal cortex connectivity. In contrast, LO-OCD patients exhibited increased CMA/Astr-precentral/postcentral gyrus and CMA-cuneus connectivity as well as decreased CMA/Astr-cerebellum and BLA-striatum connectivity. LIMITATIONS The exclusion of comorbidity may reduce the generalizability of our results. CONCLUSIONS These findings emphasized the different patterns of amygdala subregional connectivity alterations associated with EO-OCD and LO-OCD patients. These results provide unique insights into constructing evidence-based distinct OCD subtypes based on brain intrinsic connectivity and point to the need of specified management for EO-OCD and LO-OCD in clinical setting.
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26
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Fitzgerald JM, Webb EK, Weis CN, Huggins AA, Bennett KP, Miskovich TA, Krukowski JL, deRoon-Cassini TA, Larson CL. Hippocampal Resting-State Functional Connectivity Forecasts Individual Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: A Data-Driven Approach. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2022; 7:139-149. [PMID: 34478884 PMCID: PMC8825698 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder, and there is no current accurate prediction of who develops it after trauma. Neurobiologically, individuals with chronic PTSD exhibit aberrant resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the hippocampus and other brain regions (e.g., amygdala, prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate), and these aberrations correlate with severity of illness. Previous small-scale research (n < 25) has also shown that hippocampal rsFC measured acutely after trauma is predictive of future severity using a region-of-interest-based approach. While this is a promising biomarker, to date, no study has used a data-driven approach to test whole-brain hippocampal FC patterns in forecasting the development of PTSD symptoms. METHODS A total of 98 adults at risk of PTSD were recruited from the emergency department after traumatic injury and completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (8 min) within 1 month; 6 months later, they completed the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 for assessment of PTSD symptom severity. Whole-brain rsFC values with bilateral hippocampi were extracted (using CONN) and used in a machine learning kernel ridge regression analysis (PRoNTo); a k-folds (k = 10) and 70/30 testing versus training split approach were used for cross-validation (1000 iterations to bootstrap confidence intervals for significance values). RESULTS Acute hippocampal rsFC significantly predicted Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 scores at 6 months (r = 0.30, p = .006; mean squared error = 120.58, p = .006; R2 = 0.09, p = .025). In post hoc analyses, hippocampal rsFC remained significant after controlling for demographics, PTSD symptoms at baseline, and depression, anxiety, and stress severity at 6 months (B = 0.59, SE = 0.20, p = .003). CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that functional connectivity of the hippocampus across the brain acutely after traumatic injury is associated with prospective PTSD symptom severity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elisabeth Kate Webb
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Psychology, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Carissa N. Weis
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Psychology, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Ashley A. Huggins
- Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Psychiatry, Charleston, SC, USA
| | | | | | | | - Terri A. deRoon-Cassini
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Christine L. Larson
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Psychology, Milwaukee, WI, USA
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27
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Zhang S, Cui J, Zhang Z, Wang Y, Liu R, Chen X, Feng Y, Zhou J, Zhou Y, Wang G. Functional connectivity of amygdala subregions predicts vulnerability to depression following the COVID-19 pandemic. J Affect Disord 2022; 297:421-429. [PMID: 34606814 PMCID: PMC8558508 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.09.107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The amygdala is vital in processing psychological stress and predicting vulnerability or resilience to stress-related disorders. This study aimed to build the link between functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained before the stress event and the subsequent stress-related depressive symptoms. METHODS Neuroimaging data obtained before the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic from 39 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 61 health controls (HCs) were used in this study. The participants were divided retrospectively into four groups in accordance with the severity of depressive symptoms during the pandemic: remitted patients, non-remitted patients, depressed HCs (HCd) and non-depressed HCs (HCnd). Seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analyses of the amygdala and its subregions, including the centromedial (CM), the basolateral and the superficial (SF), were performed. RESULTS Vulnerability to depression was suggested by decreased rsFC between the left CM amygdala and the bilateral lingual gyrus in the HCd group compared with the HCnd group, and decreased rsFC of the left CM or right SF amygdala with the precuneus and the postcentral gyrus in the HCd group compared with patients with MDD. No evidence supported the rsFC of the amygdala or its subregions as a biomarker for the resilience of patients with MDD to stress under antidepressant treatment. LIMITATIONS Smaller sample size and no longitudinal neuroimaging data. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggested that the rsFC of amygdala subregions may represent a neurobiological marker of vulnerability to depression following stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shudong Zhang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Jian Cui
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Zhifang Zhang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Yun Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Rui Liu
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Xiongying Chen
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Yuan Feng
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China,Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China
| | - Jingjing Zhou
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China
| | - Yuan Zhou
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Gang Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100088, China; Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China.
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28
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Webb EK, Bird CM, deRoon-Cassini TA, Weis CN, Huggins AA, Fitzgerald JM, Miskovich T, Bennett K, Krukowski J, Torres L, Larson CL. Racial Discrimination and Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Salience Network Nodes in Trauma-Exposed Black Adults in the United States. JAMA Netw Open 2022; 5:e2144759. [PMID: 35072718 PMCID: PMC8787596 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.44759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Importance For Black US residents, experiences of racial discrimination are still pervasive and frequent. Recent empirical work has amplified the lived experiences and narratives of Black people and further documented the detrimental effects of racial discrimination on both mental and physical health; however, there is still a need for further research to uncover the mechanisms connecting experiences of racial discrimination with adverse health outcomes. Objective To examine neurobiological mechanisms that may offer novel insight into the association of racial discrimination with adverse health outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included 102 Black adults who had recently experienced a traumatic injury. In the acute aftermath of the trauma, participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Individuals were recruited from the emergency department at a Midwestern level 1 trauma center in the United States between March 2016 and July 2020. Data were analyzed from February to May 2021. Exposures Self-reported lifetime exposure to racial discrimination, lifetime trauma exposure, annual household income, and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were evaluated. Main Outcomes and Measures Seed-to-voxel analyses were conducted to examine the association of racial discrimination with connectivity of salience network nodes (ie, amygdala and anterior insula). Results A total of 102 individuals were included, with a mean (SD) age of 33 (10) years and 58 (57%) women. After adjusting for acute PTSD symptoms, annual household income, and lifetime trauma exposure, greater connectivity between the amygdala and thalamus was associated with greater exposure to discrimination (t(97) = 6.05; false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected P = .03). Similarly, racial discrimination was associated with greater connectivity between the insula and precuneus (t(97) = 4.32; FDR-corrected P = .02). Conclusions and Relevance These results add to the mounting literature that racial discrimination is associated with neural correlates of vigilance and hyperarousal. The study findings extend this theory by showing that this association is apparent even when accounting for socioeconomic position, lifetime trauma, and symptoms of psychological distress related to an acute trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. Kate Webb
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
| | - Claire M. Bird
- Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Terri A. deRoon-Cassini
- Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
| | - Carissa N. Weis
- Institute for Health and Equity, Department of Epidemiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
| | - Ashley A. Huggins
- Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | | | | | - Jessica Krukowski
- Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Lucas Torres
- Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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29
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Wright, N, Patel, R, Chaulk, SJ, Alcolado, G, Podnar, D, Mota, N, Monson, CM, Girard, TA, Ko, JH. Novel Analysis Identifying Functional Connectivity Patterns Associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. CHRONIC STRESS (THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF.) 2022; 6:24705470221092428. [PMID: 35465401 PMCID: PMC9019376 DOI: 10.1177/24705470221092428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder that can result from experiencing traumatic events. Accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment strategies can be difficult to achieve, due to the heterogeneous etiology and symptomology of PTSD, and overlap with other psychiatric disorders. Advancing our understanding of PTSD pathophysiology is therefore critical. While functional connectivity alterations have shown promise for elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms of PTSD, previous findings have been inconsistent. Eleven patients with PTSD in our first cohort (PTSD-A) and 11 trauma-exposed controls (TEC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. First, we investigated the intrinsic connectivity within known resting state networks (eg, default mode, salience, and central executive networks) previously implicated in functional abnormalities with PTSD symptoms. Second, the overall topology of network structure was compared between PTSD-A and TEC using graph theory. Finally, we used a novel combination of graph theory analysis and scaled subprofile modeling (SSM) to identify a disease-related, covarying pattern of brain network organization. No significant group differences were found in intrinsic connectivity of known resting state networks and graph theory metrics (clustering coefficients, characteristic path length, smallworldness, global and local efficiencies, and degree centrality). The graph theory/SSM analysis revealed a topographical pattern of altered degree centrality differentiating PTSD-A from TEC. This PTSD-related network pattern expression was additionally investigated in a separate cohort of 33 subjects who were scanned with a different MRI scanner (22 patients with PTSD or PTSD-B, and 11 healthy trauma-naïve controls or TNC). Across all participant groups, pattern expression scores were significantly lower in the TEC group, while PTSD-A, PTSD-B, and TNC subject profiles did not differ from each other. Expression level of the pattern was correlated with symptom severity in the PTSD-B group. This method offers potential in developing objective biomarkers associated with PTSD. Possible interpretations and clinical implications will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Wright,
- Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Neuroscience Research Program, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Ronak Patel,
- Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Sarah J. Chaulk,
- Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Gillian Alcolado,
- Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - David Podnar,
- Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | - Natalie Mota,
- Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
| | | | - Todd A. Girard,
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ji Hyun Ko,
- Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Neuroscience Research Program, Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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30
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Sahani V, Hurd YL, Bachi K. Neural Underpinnings of Social Stress in Substance Use Disorders. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2022; 54:483-515. [PMID: 34971448 PMCID: PMC9177516 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2021_272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Drug addiction is a complex brain disorder that is characterized by craving, withdrawal, and relapse, which can be perpetuated by social stress. Stemming from an acute life event, chronic stress, or trauma in a social context, social stress has a major role in the initiation and trajectory of substance use. Preclinical literature shows that early life stress exposure and social isolation facilitate and enhance drug self-administration. Epidemiological evidence links childhood adversity to increased risk for drug use and demonstrates that cumulative stress experiences are predictive of substance use severity in a dose-dependent manner. Stress and drug use induce overlapping brain alterations leading to downregulation or deficits in brain reward circuitry, thereby resulting in greater sensitization to the rewarding properties of drugs. Though stress in the context of addiction has been studied at the neural level, a gap in our understanding of the neural underpinnings of social stress in humans remains. METHODS We conducted a systematic review of in vivo structural and functional neuroimaging studies to evaluate the neural processes associated with social stress in individuals with substance use disorder. Results were considered in relation to participants' history of social stress and with regard to the effects of social stress induced during the neuroimaging paradigm. RESULTS An exhaustive search yielded 21 studies that matched inclusion criteria. Social stress induces broad structural and functional neural effects in individuals with substance use disorder throughout their lifespan and across drug classes. A few patterns emerged across studies: (1) many of the brain regions altered in individuals who were exposed to chronic social stress and during acute stress induction have been implicated in addiction networks (including the prefrontal cortex, insula, hippocampus, and amygdala); (2) individuals with childhood maltreatment and substance use history had decreased gray matter or activation in regions of executive functioning (including the medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex), the hippocampal complex, and the supplementary motor area; and (3) during stress-induction paradigms, activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, caudate, and amygdala was most commonly observed. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS A distinct overlap is shown between social stress-related circuitry and addiction circuitry, particularly in brain regions implicated in drug-seeking, craving, and relapse. Given the few studies that have thoroughly investigated social stress, the evidence accumulated to date needs to be replicated and extended, particularly using research designs and methods that disentangle the effects of substance use from social stress. Future clinical studies can leverage this information to evaluate the impact of exposure to trauma or adverse life events within substance use research. Expanding knowledge in this emerging field could help clarify neural mechanisms underlying addiction risk and progression to guide causal-experimental inquiry and novel prevention and treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vyoma Sahani
- Department of Psychiatry, Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yasmin L Hurd
- Department of Psychiatry, Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Keren Bachi
- Department of Psychiatry, Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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31
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Kelly JR, Gillan CM, Prenderville J, Kelly C, Harkin A, Clarke G, O'Keane V. Psychedelic Therapy's Transdiagnostic Effects: A Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Perspective. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:800072. [PMID: 34975593 PMCID: PMC8718877 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.800072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating clinical evidence shows that psychedelic therapy, by synergistically combining psychopharmacology and psychological support, offers a promising transdiagnostic treatment strategy for a range of disorders with restricted and/or maladaptive habitual patterns of emotion, cognition and behavior, notably, depression (MDD), treatment resistant depression (TRD) and addiction disorders, but perhaps also anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and eating disorders. Despite the emergent transdiagnostic evidence, the specific clinical dimensions that psychedelics are efficacious for, and associated underlying neurobiological pathways, remain to be well-characterized. To this end, this review focuses on pre-clinical and clinical evidence of the acute and sustained therapeutic potential of psychedelic therapy in the context of a transdiagnostic dimensional systems framework. Focusing on the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) as a template, we will describe the multimodal mechanisms underlying the transdiagnostic therapeutic effects of psychedelic therapy, traversing molecular, cellular and network levels. These levels will be mapped to the RDoC constructs of negative and positive valence systems, arousal regulation, social processing, cognitive and sensorimotor systems. In summarizing this literature and framing it transdiagnostically, we hope we can assist the field in moving toward a mechanistic understanding of how psychedelics work for patients and eventually toward a precise-personalized psychedelic therapy paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- John R. Kelly
- Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Department of Psychiatry, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Claire M. Gillan
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- School of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jack Prenderville
- Transpharmation Ireland Ltd, Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Discipline of Physiology, School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Clare Kelly
- Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- School of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Andrew Harkin
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Gerard Clarke
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Science, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Veronica O'Keane
- Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Department of Psychiatry, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
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Li L, Xu Z, Chen L, Suo X, Fu S, Wang S, Lui S, Huang X, Li L, Li SJ, Biswal BB, Gong Q. Dysconnectivity of the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in drug-naive post-traumatic stress disorder. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2021; 52:84-93. [PMID: 34311210 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2021.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Convergent studies have highlighted the amygdala-based and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC)-based circuit or network dysfunction in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, previous studies are often complicated by various traumatic types, psychiatric comorbidities, chronic illness duration, and medication effect on brain function. Besides, little is known whether the functional integration with amygdala-dACC interaction disrupted or not in PTSD. Here, we investigated effective connectivity (EC) between the amygdala-dACC and rest of the cortex by applying psycho-physiological interaction (PPI) approach to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 63 drug-naive PTSD patients and 74 matched trauma-exposed non-PTSD controls. Pearson correlation analysis was performed between EC values extracted from regions with between-group difference and clinical profiles in PTSD patients. We observed distinct amygdala-dACC interaction pattern between PTSD group and the control group, which is composed primarily by positive EC in the former and negative in the latter. In addition, compared with non-PTSD controls, PTSD patients showed increased EC between amygdala-dACC and the prefrontal cortex, left inferior parietal lobule, and bilateral ventral occipital cortex, and decreased EC between amygdala-dACC and the left fusiform gyrus. The EC increase between amygdala-dACC and the right middle frontal gyrus was negatively correlated with the clinician-administered PTSD scale scores in PTSD patients. Aberrent communication between amgydala-dACC and brain regions involved in central executive network and visual systems might be associated with the pathophysiology of PTSD. Further, these findings suggested that dysconnectivity of the amygdala and dACC could be adapted as a relatively early course diagnostic biomarker of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Li
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Zhan Xu
- Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 West Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States; Department of Imaging Physics, Univ of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77054, United States
| | - Lizhou Chen
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xueling Suo
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Shiqin Fu
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Song Wang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Su Lui
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xiaoqi Huang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Lingjiang Li
- Mental Health Institute, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Shi-Jiang Li
- Department of Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 West Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States.
| | - Bharat B Biswal
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark 07101, NJ, United States; The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Qiyong Gong
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China; Psychoradiology Research Unit of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
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Berg H, Ma Y, Rueter A, Kaczkurkin A, Burton PC, DeYoung CG, MacDonald AW, Sponheim SR, Lissek SM. Salience and central executive networks track overgeneralization of conditioned-fear in post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychol Med 2021; 51:2610-2619. [PMID: 32366335 PMCID: PMC9011923 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720001166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Generalization of conditioned-fear, a core feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has been the focus of several recent neuroimaging studies. A striking outcome of these studies is the frequency with which neural correlates of generalization fall within hubs of well-established functional networks including salience (SN), central executive (CEN), and default networks (DN). Neural substrates of generalization found to date may thus reflect traces of large-scale brain networks that form more expansive neural representations of generalization. The present study includes the first network-based analysis of generalization and PTSD-related abnormalities therein. METHODS fMRI responses in established intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) representing SN, CEN, and DN were assessed during a generalized conditioned-fear task in male combat veterans (N = 58) with wide-ranging PTSD symptom severity. The task included five rings of graded size. Extreme sizes served as conditioned danger-cues (CS+: paired with shock) and safety-cues (CS-), and the three intermediate sizes served as generalization stimuli (GSs) forming a continuum-of-size between CS+ and CS-. Generalization-gradients were assessed as behavioral and ICN response slopes from CS+, through GSs, to CS-. Increasing PTSD symptomatology was predicted to relate to less-steep slopes indicative of stronger generalization. RESULTS SN, CEN, and DN responses fell along generalization-gradients with levels of generalization within and between SN and CEN scaling with PTSD symptom severity. CONCLUSIONS Neural substrates of generalized conditioned-fear include large-scale networks that adhere to the functional organization of the brain. Current findings implicate levels of generalization in SN and CEN as promising neural markers of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Berg
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Yizhou Ma
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Amanda Rueter
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Antonia Kaczkurkin
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Philip C Burton
- Office of the CLA Associate Dean for Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Colin G DeYoung
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Angus W MacDonald
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Scott R Sponheim
- Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Shmuel M Lissek
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Bao W, Gao Y, Cao L, Li H, Liu J, Liang K, Hu X, Zhang L, Hu X, Gong Q, Huang X. Alterations in large-scale functional networks in adult posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of resting-state functional connectivity studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 131:1027-1036. [PMID: 34688728 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with dysfunction in large-scale brain functional networks, as revealed by resting-state functional connectivity studies. However, it remains unclear which networks have been most consistently affected and, more importantly, what role disease and trauma may play in the disrupted functional networks. We performed a systematic review of studies exploring network alterations using seed-based functional connectivity analysis, comparing individuals with PTSD to controls in general as well as trauma-exposed or nonexposed controls specifically, and quantitative meta-analysis was conducted when the number of studies was appropriately high. We found that hypoconnectivity within the default-mode network (DMN) as well as between the affective network (AN) and DMN were specifically associated with traumatic experience. Additionally, hyperconnectivity between the AN and somatomotor network (SMN) and between the DMN and SMN were specifically related to PTSD. Our results emphasize the effect of trauma itself on alterations in intrinsic brain networks and highlight disease-associated network alterations, which may help us better understand the neural mechanisms of trauma and PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weijie Bao
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yingxue Gao
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Lingxiao Cao
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Hailong Li
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Jing Liu
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Kaili Liang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xinyue Hu
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Lianqing Zhang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xinyu Hu
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Qiyong Gong
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Psychoradiology Research Unit of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2018RU011), West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Xiaoqi Huang
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; Psychoradiology Research Unit of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2018RU011), West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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Song C, Yeh PH, Ollinger J, Sours Rhodes C, Lippa SM, Riedy G, Bonavia GH. Altered Metabolic Interrelationships in the Cortico-Limbic Circuitry in Military Service Members with Persistent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain Connect 2021; 12:602-616. [PMID: 34428937 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2021.0036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Comorbid mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common in military service members. The aim of this study is to investigate brain metabolic interrelationships in service members with and without persistent PTSD symptoms after mTBI by using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography. Methods: Service members (n = 408) diagnosed with mTBI were studied retrospectively. Principal component analysis was applied to identify latent metabolic systems, and the associations between metabolic latent systems and self-report measures of post-concussive and PTSD symptoms were evaluated. Participants were divided into two groups based on DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition-Text Revision) criteria for PTSD, and structural equation modeling was performed to test a priori hypotheses on metabolic interrelationships among the brain regions in the cortico-limbic circuitry responsible for top-down control and bottom-up emotional processing. The differences in metabolic interrelationships between age-matched PTSD-absent (n = 204) and PTSD-present (n = 204) groups were evaluated. Results: FDG uptake in the temporo-limbic system was positively correlated with post-concussive and hyperarousal symptoms. For the bottom-up emotional processing, the insula and amygdala-hippocampal complex in the PTSD-present group had stronger metabolic interrelationships with the bilateral rostral anterior cingulate, left lingual, right lateral occipital, and left superior temporal cortices, but a weaker relationship with the right precuneus cortex, compared with the PTSD-absent group. For the top-down control, the PTSD-present group had decreased metabolic engagements of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on the amygdala. Discussion: Our results suggest altered metabolic interrelationships in the cortico-limbic circuitry in mTBI subjects with persistent PTSD symptoms, which may underlie the pathophysiological mechanisms of comorbid mTBI and PTSD. Impact statement This is the first 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography study to investigate brain metabolic interrelationships in service members with persistent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We identified that the temporo-limbic metabolic system was associated with post-concussive and hyperarousal symptoms. Further, brain metabolic interrelationships in the cortico-limbic circuitry were altered in mTBI subjects with significant PTSD symptoms compared with those without them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chihwa Song
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ping-Hong Yeh
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - John Ollinger
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Chandler Sours Rhodes
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Sara M Lippa
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Gerard Riedy
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Grant H Bonavia
- National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Sheynin S, Wolf L, Ben-Zion Z, Sheynin J, Reznik S, Keynan JN, Admon R, Shalev A, Hendler T, Liberzon I. Deep learning model of fMRI connectivity predicts PTSD symptom trajectories in recent trauma survivors. Neuroimage 2021; 238:118242. [PMID: 34098066 PMCID: PMC8350148 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Early intervention following exposure to a traumatic life event could change the clinical path from the development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to recovery, hence the interest in early detection and underlying biological mechanisms involved in the development of post traumatic sequelae. We introduce a novel end-to-end neural network that employs resting-state and task-based functional MRI (fMRI) datasets, obtained one month after trauma exposure, to predict PTSD symptoms at one-, six- and fourteen-months after the exposure. FMRI data, as well as PTSD status and symptoms, were collected from adults at risk for PTSD development, after admission to emergency room following a traumatic event. Our computational method utilized a per-region encoder to extract brain regions embedding, which were subsequently updated by applying the algorithmic technique of pairwise attention. The affinities obtained between each pair of regions were combined to create a pairwise co-activation map used to perform multi-label classification. The results demonstrate that the novel method's performance in predicting PTSD symptoms, in a prospective manner, outperforms previous analytical techniques reported in the fMRI literature, all trained on the same dataset. We further show a high predictive ability for predicting PTSD symptom clusters and PTSD persistence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first deep learning method applied on fMRI data with respect to prospective clinical outcomes, to predict PTSD status, severity and symptom clusters. Future work could further delineate the mechanisms that underlie such a prediction, and potentially improve single patient characterization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shelly Sheynin
- School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Lior Wolf
- School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
| | - Ziv Ben-Zion
- Sagol Brain Institute Tel-Aviv, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Jony Sheynin
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, TX, USA
| | - Shira Reznik
- Sagol Brain Institute Tel-Aviv, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Jackob Nimrod Keynan
- Sagol Brain Institute Tel-Aviv, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Roee Admon
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; The Integrated Brain and Behavior Research Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Arieh Shalev
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Talma Hendler
- Sagol Brain Institute Tel-Aviv, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Israel Liberzon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, TX, USA
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Wang Z, Zhu H, Yuan M, Li Y, Qiu C, Ren Z, Yuan C, Lui S, Gong Q, Zhang W. The resting-state functional connectivity of amygdala subregions associated with post-traumatic stress symptom and sleep quality in trauma survivors. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2021; 271:1053-1064. [PMID: 32052123 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-020-01104-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging findings suggest that the amygdala plays a primary role in both the psychopathology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and poor sleep quality, which are common in trauma survivors. However, the neural mechanisms of these two problems in trauma survivors associated with amygdala remain unclear. In the current study, we aimed to explore the role of functional connectivity of amygdala subregions in both PTSD symptoms and poor sleep quality. A total of 94 trauma-exposed subjects were scanned on a 3T MR system using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Both Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale scores were negatively correlated with the resting-state functional connectivity between the left basolateral amygdala-left medial prefrontal cortex and the right basolateral amygdala-right medial prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest a shared amygdala subregional neural circuitry underlying the neuropathological mechanisms of PTSD symptoms and poor sleep quality in trauma survivors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuxing Wang
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Healthy, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
| | - Hongru Zhu
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Huaxi Brain Research Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Minlan Yuan
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuchen Li
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Changjian Qiu
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhengjia Ren
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University (The Third Military Medical University), Chongqing, China
| | - Cui Yuan
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Su Lui
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Qiyong Gong
- Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Mental Health Center and Psychiatric Laboratory, The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
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Pospelov N, Tetereva A, Martynova O, Anokhin K. The Laplacian eigenmaps dimensionality reduction of fMRI data for discovering stimulus-induced changes in the resting-state brain activity. NEUROIMAGE: REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2021.100035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Cyr M, Pagliaccio D, Yanes-Lukin P, Goldberg P, Fontaine M, Rynn MA, Marsh R. Altered fronto-amygdalar functional connectivity predicts response to cognitive behavioral therapy in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Depress Anxiety 2021; 38:836-845. [PMID: 34157177 PMCID: PMC8328961 DOI: 10.1002/da.23187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Based on findings from adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this study examined alterations in resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) between the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in children and adolescents with OCD. We also assessed whether such BLA-vmPFC connectivity changed with or predicted response to exposure and response prevention (E/RP), the first-line treatment for pediatric OCD, given the involvement of these regions in fear processing, regulation, and extinction learning-a probable mechanism of action of E/RP. METHODS Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from 25 unmedicated, treatment-naïve pediatric patients with OCD (12.8 ± 2.9 years) and 23 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs; 11.0 ± 3.3 years). Patients completed a 12-16-week E/RP intervention for OCD. Participants were rescanned after the 12-16-week period. ANCOVAs tested group differences in baseline rs-fc. Cross-lagged panel models examined relationships between BLA-vmPFC rs-fc and OCD symptoms pre- and posttreatment. All tests were adjusted for participants' age, sex, and head motion. RESULTS Right BLA-vmPFC rs-fc was significantly reduced (more negative) in patients with OCD relative to HCs at baseline, and increased following treatment. In patients, more positive (less negative) right BLA-vmPFC rs-fc pretreatment predicted greater OCD symptoms reduction posttreatment. Changes in BLA-vmPFC rs-fc was unassociated with change in OCD symptoms pre- to posttreatment. CONCLUSIONS These results provide further evidence of the BLA-vmPFC pathway as a potential target for novel treatments or prevention strategies aimed at facilitating adaptive learning and fear extinction in children with OCD or subclinical OCD symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilyn Cyr
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Pagliaccio
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Paula Yanes-Lukin
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pablo Goldberg
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Martine Fontaine
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Moira A. Rynn
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Rachel Marsh
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Feng P, Chen Z, Becker B, Liu X, Zhou F, He Q, Qiu J, Lei X, Chen H, Feng T. Predisposing Variations in Fear-Related Brain Networks Prospectively Predict Fearful Feelings during the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:540-553. [PMID: 34297795 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 06/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a surge in mental distress and fear-related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fear-related disorders are characterized by dysregulations in fear and the associated neural pathways. In the present study, we examined whether individual variations in the fear neural connectome can predict fear-related symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using machine learning algorithms and back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) deep learning algorithms, we demonstrated that the intrinsic neural connectome before the COVID-19 pandemic could predict who would develop high fear-related symptoms at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China (Accuracy rate = 75.00%, Sensitivity rate = 65.83%, Specificity rate = 84.17%). More importantly, prediction models could accurately predict the level of fear-related symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic by using the prepandemic connectome state, in which the functional connectivity of lvmPFC (left ventromedial prefrontal cortex)-rdlPFC (right dorsolateral), rdACC (right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex)-left insula, lAMY (left amygdala)-lHip (left hippocampus) and lAMY-lsgACC (left subgenual cingulate cortex) was contributed to the robust prediction. The current study capitalized on prepandemic data of the neural connectome of fear to predict participants who would develop high fear-related symptoms in COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that individual variations in the intrinsic organization of the fear circuits represent a neurofunctional marker that renders subjects vulnerable to experience high levels of fear during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pan Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Zhiyi Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Benjamin Becker
- Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.,The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Xiqin Liu
- Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.,The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Feng Zhou
- Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.,The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Qinghua He
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Jiang Qiu
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Xu Lei
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Hong Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Tingyong Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.,Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China
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41
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Structural and resting state functional connectivity beyond the cortex. Neuroimage 2021; 240:118379. [PMID: 34252527 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Revised: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mapping the structural and functional connectivity of the central nervous system has become a key area within neuroimaging research. While detailed network structures across the entire brain have been probed using animal models, non-invasive neuroimaging in humans has thus far been dominated by cortical investigations. Beyond the cortex, subcortical nuclei have traditionally been less accessible due to their smaller size and greater distance from radio frequency coils. However, major neuroimaging developments now provide improved signal and the resolution required to study these structures. Here, we present an overview of the connectivity between the amygdala, brainstem, cerebellum, spinal cord and the rest of the brain. While limitations to their imaging and analyses remain, we also provide some recommendations and considerations for mapping brain connectivity beyond the cortex.
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Wesarg C, Veer IM, Oei NYL, Daedelow LS, Lett TA, Banaschewski T, Barker GJ, Bokde AL, Quinlan EB, Desrivières S, Flor H, Grigis A, Garavan H, Brühl R, Martinot J, Artiges E, Nees F, Orfanos DP, Poustka L, Hohmann S, Fröhner JH, Smolka MN, Whelan R, Schumann G, Heinz A, Walter H. The interaction of child abuse and rs1360780 of the FKBP5 gene is associated with amygdala resting-state functional connectivity in young adults. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3269-3281. [PMID: 33818852 PMCID: PMC8193540 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Extensive research has demonstrated that rs1360780, a common single nucleotide polymorphism within the FKBP5 gene, interacts with early-life stress in predicting psychopathology. Previous results suggest that carriers of the TT genotype of rs1360780 who were exposed to child abuse show differences in structure and functional activation of emotion-processing brain areas belonging to the salience network. Extending these findings on intermediate phenotypes of psychopathology, we examined if the interaction between rs1360780 and child abuse predicts resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the amygdala and other areas of the salience network. We analyzed data of young European adults from the general population (N = 774; mean age = 18.76 years) who took part in the IMAGEN study. In the absence of main effects of genotype and abuse, a significant interaction effect was observed for rsFC between the right centromedial amygdala and right posterior insula (p < .025, FWE-corrected), which was driven by stronger rsFC in TT allele carriers with a history of abuse. Our results suggest that the TT genotype of rs1360780 may render individuals with a history of abuse more vulnerable to functional changes in communication between brain areas processing emotions and bodily sensations, which could underlie or increase the risk for psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiane Wesarg
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)‐LabUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Research Priority Area (RPA) YieldUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Ilya M. Veer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlinand Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
| | - Nicole Y. L. Oei
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Addiction Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT)‐LabUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Research Priority Area (RPA) YieldUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (ABC)University of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Laura S. Daedelow
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlinand Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
| | - Tristram A. Lett
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlinand Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
- Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität BerlinHumboldt‐Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
| | - Tobias Banaschewski
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg UniversityMannheimGermany
| | - Gareth J. Barker
- Department of NeuroimagingInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondonUK
| | - Arun L.W. Bokde
- Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Trinity College Institute of NeuroscienceTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Erin Burke Quinlan
- Centre for Population Neuroscience and Precision Medicine (PONS)Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, SGDP Centre, King's College LondonLondonUK
| | - Sylvane Desrivières
- Centre for Population Neuroscience and Precision Medicine (PONS)Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, SGDP Centre, King's College LondonLondonUK
| | - Herta Flor
- Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg UniversityMannheimGermany
- Department of Psychology, School of Social SciencesUniversity of MannheimMannheimGermany
| | - Antoine Grigis
- NeuroSpin, CEAUniversité Paris‐SaclayGif‐sur‐YvetteFrance
| | - Hugh Garavan
- Departments of Psychiatry and PsychologyUniversity of VermontBurlingtonVermontUSA
| | - Rüdiger Brühl
- Physikalisch‐Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)Braunschweig and BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Jean‐Luc Martinot
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche MédicaleINSERM U A10 “Trajectoires développementales en psychiatrie”; Université Paris‐Saclay, Ecole Normale supérieure Paris‐Saclay, CNRS, Centre BorelliGif‐sur‐YvetteFrance
| | - Eric Artiges
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche MédicaleINSERM U A10 “Trajectoires développementales en psychiatrie”; Université Paris‐Saclay, Ecole Normale supérieure Paris‐Saclay, CNRS, Centre BorelliGif‐sur‐YvetteFrance
- Department of Psychiatry 91G16Orsay HospitalGif‐sur‐YvetteFrance
| | - Frauke Nees
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg UniversityMannheimGermany
- Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg UniversityMannheimGermany
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Schleswig HolsteinKiel UniversityKielGermany
| | | | - Luise Poustka
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and PsychotherapyUniversity Medical Centre GöttingenGöttingenGermany
| | - Sarah Hohmann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty MannheimHeidelberg UniversityMannheimGermany
| | - Juliane H. Fröhner
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging CenterTechnische Universität DresdenDresdenGermany
| | - Michael N. Smolka
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging CenterTechnische Universität DresdenDresdenGermany
| | - Robert Whelan
- School of Psychology and Global Brain Health InstituteTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Gunter Schumann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlinand Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
- Centre for Population Neuroscience and Precision Medicine (PONS)Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, SGDP Centre, King's College LondonLondonUK
- Leibniz Institute for NeurobiologyMagdeburgGermany
- Institute for Science and Technology of Brain‐inspired Intelligence (ISTBI)Fudan UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Andreas Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlinand Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
| | - Henrik Walter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy CCM, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlinand Berlin Institute of HealthBerlinGermany
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Neural substrates of human fear generalization: A 7T-fMRI investigation. Neuroimage 2021; 239:118308. [PMID: 34175426 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear generalization - the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening due to perceptual similarity to a learned threat - is an adaptive process. Overgeneralization, however, is maladaptive and has been implicated in a number of anxiety disorders. Neuroimaging research has indicated several regions sensitive to effects of generalization, including regions involved in fear excitation (e.g., amygdala, insula) and inhibition (e.g., ventromedial prefrontal cortex). Research has suggested several other small brain regions may play an important role in this process (e.g., hippocampal subfields, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis [BNST], habenula), but, to date, these regions have not been examined during fear generalization due to limited spatial resolution of standard human neuroimaging. To this end, we utilized the high spatial resolution of 7T fMRI to characterize the neural circuits involved in threat discrimination and generalization. Additionally, we examined potential modulating effects of trait anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty on neural activation during threat generalization. In a sample of 31 healthy undergraduate students, significant positive generalization effects (i.e., greater activation for stimuli with increasing perceptual similarity to a learned threat cue) were observed in the visual cortex, thalamus, habenula and BNST, while negative generalization effects were observed in the dentate gyrus, CA1, and CA3. Associations with individual differences were underpowered, though preliminary findings suggested greater generalization in the insula and primary somatosensory cortex may be correlated with self-reported anxiety. Overall, findings largely support previous neuroimaging work on fear generalization and provide additional insight into the contributions of several previously unexplored brain regions.
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Fonzo GA, Goodkind MS, Oathes DJ, Zaiko YV, Harvey M, Peng KK, Weiss ME, Thompson AL, Zack SE, Lindley SE, Arnow BA, Jo B, Rothbaum BO, Etkin A. Amygdala and Insula Connectivity Changes Following Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:857-867. [PMID: 33516458 PMCID: PMC8052256 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exposure-based psychotherapy is a first-line treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but its mechanisms are poorly understood. Functional brain connectivity is a promising metric for identifying treatment mechanisms and biosignatures of therapeutic response. To this end, we assessed amygdala and insula treatment-related connectivity changes and their relationship to PTSD symptom improvements. METHODS Individuals with a primary PTSD diagnosis (N = 66) participated in a randomized clinical trial of prolonged exposure therapy (n = 36) versus treatment waiting list (n = 30). Task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging was completed prior to randomization and 1 month following cessation of treatment/waiting list. Whole-brain blood oxygenation level-dependent responses were acquired. Intrinsic connectivity was assessed by subregion in the amygdala and insula, limbic structures key to the disorder pathophysiology. Dynamic causal modeling assessed evidence for effective connectivity changes in select nodes informed by intrinsic connectivity findings. RESULTS The amygdala and insula displayed widespread patterns of primarily subregion-uniform intrinsic connectivity change, including increased connectivity between the amygdala and insula; increased connectivity of both regions with the ventral prefrontal cortex and frontopolar and sensory cortices; and decreased connectivity of both regions with the left frontoparietal nodes of the executive control network. Larger decreases in amygdala-frontal connectivity and insula-parietal connectivity were associated with larger PTSD symptom reductions. Dynamic causal modeling evidence suggested that treatment decreased left frontal inhibition of the left amygdala, and larger decreases were associated with larger symptom reductions. CONCLUSIONS PTSD psychotherapy adaptively attenuates functional interactions between frontoparietal and limbic brain circuitry at rest, which may reflect a potential mechanism or biosignature of recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory A Fonzo
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, Texas
| | | | - Desmond J Oathes
- Center for Neuromodulation in Depression and Stress, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Yevgeniya V Zaiko
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto, California
| | - Meredith Harvey
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto, California
| | - Kathy K Peng
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto, California
| | - M Elizabeth Weiss
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto, California
| | - Allison L Thompson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Sanno E Zack
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Steven E Lindley
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Palo Alto, California
| | - Bruce A Arnow
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Booil Jo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Barbara O Rothbaum
- Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program, Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Amit Etkin
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Alto Neuroscience, Los Altos, California.
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Kundu S, Ming J, Stevens J. Developing Multimodal Dynamic Functional Connectivity as a Neuroimaging Biomarker. Brain Connect 2021; 11:529-542. [PMID: 33544014 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2020.0900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: In spite of increasing evidence highlighting the role of dynamic functional connectivity (FC) in characterizing mental disorders, there is a lack of (a) reliable statistical methods to compute dynamic connectivity and (b) rigorous dynamic FC-based approaches for predicting mental health outcomes in heterogeneous disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods: In one of the first such efforts, we develop a reliable and accurate approach for estimating dynamic FC guided by brain structural connectivity (SC) computed using diffusion tensor imaging data and investigate the potential of the proposed multimodal dynamic FC to predict continuous mental health outcomes. We develop concrete measures of temporal network variability that are predictive of PTSD resilience, and identify regions whose temporal connectivity fluctuations are significantly related to resilience. Results: Our results illustrate that the multimodal approach is more sensitive to connectivity change points, it can clearly detect localized brain regions with the dynamic network features such as small-worldedness, clustering coefficients, and efficiency associated with resilience, and that it has superior predictive performance compared with existing static and dynamic network models when modeling PTSD resilience. Discussion: While the majority of resting-state network modeling in psychiatry has focused on static FC, our novel multimodal dynamic network analyses that are sensitive to network fluctuations allowed us to provide a model of neural correlates of resilience with high accuracy compared with existing static connectivity approaches or those that do not use brain SC information, and provided us with an expanded understanding of the neurobiological causes for PTSD. Impact statement The methods developed in this article provide reliable and accurate dynamic functional connectivity (FC) approaches by fusing multimodal imaging data that are highly predictive of continuous clinical phenotypes in heterogeneous mental disorders. Currently, there is very little theoretical work to explain how network dynamics might contribute to individual differences in behavior or psychiatric symptoms. Our analysis conclusively discovers localized brain resting-state networks, regions, and connections where variations in dynamic FC (that is estimated after incorporating brain structural connectivity information) are associated with post-traumatic stress disorder resilience, which could potentially provide valuable tools for the development of neural circuit modeling in psychiatry in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suprateek Kundu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jin Ming
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jennifer Stevens
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Gao W, Biswal B, Chen S, Wu X, Yuan J. Functional coupling of the orbitofrontal cortex and the basolateral amygdala mediates the association between spontaneous reappraisal and emotional response. Neuroimage 2021; 232:117918. [PMID: 33652140 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional regulation is known to be associated with activity in the amygdala. The amygdala is an emotion-generative region that comprises of structurally and functionally distinct nuclei. However, little is known about the contributions of different frontal-amygdala sub-region pathways to emotion regulation. Here, we investigated how functional couplings between frontal regions and amygdala sub-regions are involved in different spontaneous emotion regulation processes by using an individual-difference approach and a generalized psycho-physiological interaction (gPPI) approach. Specifically, 50 healthy participants reported their dispositional use of spontaneous cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in daily life and their actual use of these two strategies during the performance of an emotional-picture watching task. Results showed that functional coupling between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) was associated with higher scores of both dispositional and actual uses of reappraisal. Similarly, functional coupling between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the centromedial amygdala (CMA) was associated with higher scores of both dispositional and actual uses of suppression. Mediation analyses indicated that functional coupling of the right OFC-BLA partially mediated the association between reappraisal and emotional response, irrespective of whether reappraisal was measured by dispositional use (indirect effect(SE)=-0.2021 (0.0811), 95%CI(BC)= [-0.3851, -0.0655]) or actual use (indirect effect(SE)=-0.1951 (0.0796), 95%CI(BC)= [-0.3654, -0.0518])). These findings suggest that spontaneous reappraisal and suppression involve distinct frontal- amygdala functional couplings, and the modulation of BLA activity from OFC may be necessary for changing emotional response during spontaneous reappraisal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Gao
- The Affect Cognition and Regulation Laboratory (ACRLab), Institute of Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Bharat Biswal
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, United States
| | - ShengDong Chen
- School of Psychology, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, Shandong, China
| | - XinRan Wu
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - JiaJin Yuan
- The Affect Cognition and Regulation Laboratory (ACRLab), Institute of Brain and Psychological Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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Neria Y. Functional Neuroimaging in PTSD: From Discovery of Underlying Mechanisms to Addressing Diagnostic Heterogeneity. Am J Psychiatry 2021; 178:128-135. [PMID: 33517750 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20121727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuval Neria
- Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York
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Quidé Y, Zine A, Descriaud C, Saint-Martin P, Andersson F, El-Hage W. Aberrant intrinsic connectivity in women victims of sexual assault. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 15:2356-2366. [PMID: 33469788 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00431-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
This study aims to determine if resting-state functional connectivity may represent a marker for the progression of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women victims of sexual assault. Participants were 25 adult women recruited three weeks following exposure to sexual assault (T1) and 19 age-matched healthy, non trauma-exposed controls (HC). Among the victims, 10 participants met (PTSD) and 15 did not meet (trauma-exposed controls, TEC) DSM-IV criteria for PTSD six months post-trauma (T2). At both visits, patterns of intrinsic connectivity, a measure of network centrality at each voxel of the brain, were derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Compared to both the HC and TEC groups, victims who developed PTSD at T2 showed higher centrality in the right middle/superior occipital gyrus at T1, while reduced centrality of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus at T1 was found for the TEC group, compared to the HC group only. There were no differences in intrinsic connectivity at T1 between the TEC and PTSD groups. There were no significant between-group differences in intrinsic connectivity at T2, and no significant group-by-time interaction. This study indicates that increased occipital centrality three weeks post-trauma exposure may represent a marker of the later development of PTSD. On the other hand, reduced centrality of the PCC/precuneus may represent a marker of resilience to trauma exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yann Quidé
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia. .,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia.
| | - Aïcha Zine
- UMR 1253 iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, Tours, France
| | - Céline Descriaud
- Centre d'Accueil des Victimes d'Agressions Sexuelles, Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans, Orléans, France
| | | | | | - Wissam El-Hage
- UMR 1253 iBrain, Université de Tours, INSERM, Tours, France.,Centre de Psychotraumatologie CVL, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France.,CIC 1415, INSERM, Centre d'Investigation Clinique, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France
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Abstract
Lateral asymmetry is one of the fundamental properties of the functional anatomy of the human brain. Amygdala (AMYG) asymmetry was also reported in clinical studies of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) but rarely in healthy groups. To explore this issue, we investigated the reproducibility of the data on rsFC of the left and right AMYG using functional MRI twice a week in 20 healthy volunteers with mild-to-moderate anxiety. We found a resting-state network of the AMYG, which included regions involved in emotional processing and several other brain areas associated with memory and motor inhibition. The AMYG network was stable in time and within subjects, but the right AMYG had more significant connections with anatomical brain regions. The rsFC values of the right AMYG were also more sustained across the week than the left AMYG rsFC. Subjective ratings of anxiety did not correlate significantly with the patterns of seed-based AMYG connectivity. Our findings indicate that, for healthy subjects, rsFC may differ for the right and left AMYG. Moreover, the AMYG functional connectivity is variable in short-term observations, which may also influence the results of longitude studies.
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Liu T, Ke J, Qi R, Zhang L, Zhang Z, Xu Q, Zhong Y, Lu G, Chen F. Altered functional connectivity of the amygdala and its subregions in typhoon-related post-traumatic stress disorder. Brain Behav 2021; 11:e01952. [PMID: 33205889 PMCID: PMC7821579 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND New evidence suggests that the centromedial amygdala (CMA) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) play different roles in threat processing. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the functional connectivity (FC) of the amygdala and its subregions. METHODS Twenty-seven patients with typhoon-related PTSD, 33 trauma-exposed controls (TEC), and 30 healthy controls (HC) were scanned with a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The FCs of the BLA, the CMA, and the amygdala as a whole were examined using a seed-based approach, and then, the analysis of variance was used to compare the groups. RESULTS We demonstrated that the BLA had a stronger connectivity with the prefrontal cortices (PFCs) and angular gyrus in the PTSD group than in the TEC group. Additionally, compared with the PTSD and the HC groups, the TEC group exhibited decreased and increased BLA FC with the ventromedial PFC and postcentral gyrus (PoCG), respectively. Furthermore, the PTSD group showed abnormal FC between the salience network and default-mode network, as well as the executive control network. Compared with the HC group, the TEC group and the PTSD group both showed decreased BLA FC with the superior temporal gyrus (STG). Finally, the FCs between the bilateral amygdala (as a whole) and the vmPFC, and between the BLA and the vmPFC have a negative correlation with the severity of PTSD. CONCLUSIONS Decreased BLA-vmPFC FC and increased BLA-PoCG FC may reflect PTSD resilience factors. Trauma leads to decreased connectivity between the BLA and the STG, which could be further aggravated by PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Liu
- Department of Neurology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Hospital Affiliated to Hainan Medical College), Haikou, Hainan Province, China
| | - Jun Ke
- Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Rongfeng Qi
- Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Li Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Mental Health Institute, the Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
| | - Zhiqiang Zhang
- Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Qiang Xu
- Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yuan Zhong
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Guangming Lu
- Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Feng Chen
- Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Hospital Affiliated to Hainan Medical College), Haikou, Hainan Province, China
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