Citation

Osuch EA, Willis MW, Bluhm R, Ursano RJ, Drevets WC. Biol. Psychiatry 2008; 64(4): 327-335.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. elizabeth.osuch@lhsc.on.ca

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.03.010

PMID

18423575

PMCID

PMC2597354

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging studies report that individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder show abnormal responses in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during exposure to traumatic reminders. However, neural responses arising in the early aftermath of a traumatic event have not been studied. METHODS: Twenty-two motor vehicle collision survivors and 12 nontraumatized control subjects participated. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured using [(15)O]-H(2)O positron emission tomography (PET) at rest and as subjects listened to scripts of traumatic and neutral events. Self-report measures rated emotional responses to the scripts; standardized assessments (Impact of Events--Revised) evaluated acute stress symptoms at scanning and at 3-month follow-up. Most subjects improved symptomatically. RESULTS: At rest, trauma subjects showed hyperperfusion in right mPFC/ACC and hypoperfusion in right amygdala compared with control subjects. In trauma subjects, listening to trauma scripts versus neutral scripts resulted in decreased flow in the right amygdala and left amygdala/perirhinal cortex, and symptom scores correlated negatively with right hippocampal flow changes. Symptom improvement at 3 months correlated negatively with rCBF changes in right perirhinal cortex and hippocampus during the trauma versus neutral script contrast. Subjective disturbance during the trauma versus neutral contrast correlated positively with rCBF changes in right amygdala and left mPFC. Functional connectivity analyses of rCBF changes during trauma versus neutral scripts demonstrated left amygdala coupling with right ACC and bilateral anterior insula, as well as coupling between the amygdala and contralateral hippocampus. CONCLUSIONS: In recently traumatized subjects functional interactions between the amygdala, perirhinal cortex and ACC/mPFC that occur during exposure to traumatic reminders may underlie adaptive/recuperative processes.

Language: en