Citation

De Bellis MD, Keshavan MS, Spencer S, Hall J. Am. J. Psychiatry 2000; 157(7): 1175-1177.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA 15213, USA. DeBellisMD@msx.upmc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10873933

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Anterior cingulate dysfunction has been implicated in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors hypothesized that integrity of the anterior cingulate may be affected in childhood PTSD. METHOD: Single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (proton MRS) was used to measure the relative concentration of N-acetylaspartate and creatine, a marker of neural integrity, in the anterior cingulate of 11 children and adolescents who met DSM-IV criteria for PTSD secondary to maltreatment and 11 healthy matched comparison subjects. RESULTS: The ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatine was significantly lower in the maltreated subjects with PTSD than in the comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratio in subjects with PTSD suggests that anterior cingulate neuronal metabolism may be altered in childhood PTSD.

Language: en