Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2012 Jul;37(4):241-9. doi: 10.1503/jpn.110069.
Converging neuroimaging research suggests altered emotion neurocircuitry in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Emotion activation studies in these individuals have shown hyperactivation in emotion-related regions, including the amygdala and insula, and hypoactivation in emotion-regulation regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, few studies have examined patterns of connectivity at rest in individuals with PTSD, a potentially powerful method for illuminating brain network structure.
Using the amygdala as a seed region, we measured resting-state brain connectivity using 3 T functional magnetic resonance imaging in returning male veterans with PTSD and combat controls without PTSD.
Fifteen veterans with PTSD and 14 combat controls enrolled in our study. Compared with controls, veterans with PTSD showed greater positive connectivity between the amygdala and insula, reduced positive connectivity between the amygdala and hippocampus, and reduced anticorrelation between the amygdala and dorsal ACC and rostral ACC.
Only male veterans with combat exposure were tested, thus our findings cannot be generalized to women or to individuals with non-combat related PTSD.
These results demonstrate that studies of functional connectivity during resting state can discern aberrant patterns of coupling within emotion circuits and suggest a possible brain basis for emotion-processing and emotion-regulation deficits in individuals with PTSD.
汇集的神经影像学研究表明，创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）患者的情绪神经回路发生了改变。这些个体的情绪激活研究表明，情绪相关区域（包括杏仁核和脑岛）过度活跃，而情绪调节区域（包括内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）和前扣带皮质（ACC））则活动不足。然而，很少有研究检查过 PTSD 个体在静息状态下的连接模式，这是一种阐明大脑网络结构的潜在强大方法。
我们使用杏仁核作为种子区域，使用 3T 功能磁共振成像在患有 PTSD 的返回男性退伍军人和没有 PTSD 的战斗对照组中测量静息状态下的大脑连接。
我们的研究共纳入了 15 名 PTSD 退伍军人和 14 名战斗对照组。与对照组相比，患有 PTSD 的退伍军人表现出杏仁核和脑岛之间更强的正连接，杏仁核和海马体之间的正连接减少，以及杏仁核和背侧 ACC 和额前 ACC 之间的负相关减少。
仅测试了有战斗经历的男性退伍军人，因此我们的发现不能推广到女性或非战斗相关 PTSD 的个体。
这些结果表明，在静息状态下进行功能连接研究可以辨别情绪回路中异常的耦合模式，并为 PTSD 个体的情绪处理和情绪调节缺陷提供可能的大脑基础。
