@article{ref1,
title="Interpersonal violence in posttraumatic women: brain networks triggered by trauma-related pictures",
journal="Social cognitive and affective neuroscience",
year="2016",
author="Neumeister, P. and Feldker, K. and Heitmann, C. Y. and Helmich, R. and Gathmann, B. and Becker, M. P. I. and Straube, T.",
volume="12",
number="4",
pages="555-568",
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.<br><br>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.<br><br>© The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1749-5016",
doi="10.1093/scan/nsw165",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw165"
}