Citation

Yan X, Lazar M, Shalev AY, Neylan TC, Wolkowitz OM, Brown AD, Henn-Haase C, Yehuda R, Flory JD, Abu-Amara D, Sodickson DK, Marmar CR. Psychiatry Res. 2014; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Posttraumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury, Department of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.12.001

PMID

25561375

Abstract

Abnormality in the "fear circuitry" has been known as a major neural characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent studies also revealed decreased functional connectivity in the default mode network in PTSD. The present study aims to investigate, in war-zone-related PTSD, the spontaneous activity and functional connectivity of the amygdala and the precuneus, which are two representative brain regions of the two networks, respectively. Two groups of 52 male US Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veterans (PTSD vs. controls), well matched on age and ethnicity, were clinically assessed and then studied in a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) procedure. Functional connectivity analysis was conducted on the resting state fMRI data with the amygdala and precuneus as seeds. Compared with controls, veterans with PTSD had lower functional connectivity in the default mode network, as well as lower amygdala-frontal functional connectivity. Both the PTSD and the control group had a significant positive precuneal-amygdala functional connectivity without a significant group difference. The magnitudes of spontaneous activity of the amygdala and the precuneus were negatively correlated in the PTSD group and showed significant quadratic relationships with the amount of emotional abuse in early life trauma. These findings may improve our understanding about the relationships between fear circuitry and the default mode network in the context of war-zone-related PTSD.

Language: en