Citation

Matthews S, Spadoni A, Knox K, Strigo I, Simmons A. Psychosom. Med. 2012; 74(5): 471-475.

Affiliation

Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) (S.M., A.Sp., I.S., A.Si.); Department of Psychiatry (S.M., A.Sp., I.S., A.Si.), University of California San Diego; VASDHS Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health (S.M., I.S., A.Si.); VASDHS Mental Illness Education, Research and Clinical Center (S.M.), San Diego, California; VA VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention (K.K.), Albany, New York; and Department of Psychiatry (K.K.), University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Psychosomatic Society, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PSY.0b013e31824f888f

PMID

22511726

Abstract

ObjectiveSuicide is a significant public health problem. Suicidal ideation (SI) increases the risk for completed suicide. However, the brain basis of SI is unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the neural correlates of self-monitoring in individuals at risk for suicide. We hypothesized that combat veterans with a history of SI relative to those without such a history would show altered activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and related circuitry during self-monitoring.MethodsTwo groups of combat-exposed war veterans (13 men with and 13 men without history of SI) were studied. Both the SI and non-SI participants had two or more of the following: a) current major depressive disorder, b) current posttraumatic stress disorder, and c) history of mild traumatic brain injury, and each subject performed a validated stop task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Error-related activation was compared between the SI and non-SI groups.ResultsThe SI group demonstrated more error-related activation of the anterior cingulate (8256 mm(3), t = 2.51) and prefrontal cortex (i.e., clusters >2048 mm(3), voxelwise p < .05). The SI and non-SI participants showed similar behavioral task performance (i.e., mean error rate, F values < 0.63, p values > .43; and mean reaction times, F = 0.27, p = .61).ConclusionsThese findings suggest neural correlates of altered self-monitoring in individuals with a history of SI and may further suggest that functional magnetic resonance imaging could be used to identify individuals at risk for suicide before they engage in suicidal behavior.

Language: en