Citation

Neumeister P, Feldker K, Heitmann CY, Helmich R, Gathmann B, Becker MP, Straube T. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 2016; 12(4): 555-568.

Affiliation

Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, Muenster.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/scan/nsw165

PMID

27998993

Abstract

Interpersonal violence (IPV) is one of the most frequent causes for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women. Trauma-related triggers have been proposed to evoke automatic emotional responses in PTSD. The present functional magnetic resonance study investigated the neural basis of trauma-related picture processing in women with IPV-PTSD (n = 18) relative to healthy controls (n = 18) using a new standardized trauma-related picture set and a nonemotional vigilance task. We aimed to identify brain activation and connectivity evoked by trauma-related pictures, and associations with PTSD symptom severity.We found hyperactivation during trauma-related vs. neutral pictures processing in both subcortical (basolateral amygdala (BLA), thalamus, brainstem) and cortical (anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), insula, occipital cortex) regions in IPV-PTSD. In patients, brain activation in amygdala, ACC, insula, occipital cortex and brainstem correlated positively with symptom severity. Furthermore, connectivity analyses revealed hyperconnectivity between BLA and dorsal ACC/mPFC.

RESULTS show symptom severity dependent brain activation and hyperconnectivity in response to trauma-related pictures in brain regions related to fear and visual processing in women suffering from IPV-PTSD. These brain mechanisms appear to be associated with immediate responses to trauma-related triggers presented in a non-emotional context in this PTSD subgroup.

© The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

Language: en