Department of Psychiatry, Western University, 339 Windermere Rd, PO Box 5339, London, ON N6A 5A5 Canada ; Department of Psychosomatic and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry, Western University, 339 Windermere Rd, PO Box 5339, London, ON N6A 5A5 Canada ; Psychology, Western University, London, ON N6A 5A5 Canada.
Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul. 2014 Nov 25;1:17. doi: 10.1186/2051-6673-1-17. eCollection 2014.
Posttraumatic stress (PTSD) disorder has been associated with heightened threat sensitivity. Evidence suggests that direct eye gaze leads to sustained activation of the superior colliculus/periaqueductal grey within individuals with PTSD. The present analysis investigated functional connectivity within the salience network (SN) in the same sample as presented in a prior publication during direct versus averted gaze in adults with PTSD related to childhood maltreatment as compared to healthy individuals.
Functional connectivity within the SN was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants viewed avatars positioned in direct versus averted gaze relative to the participant in 16 individuals with PTSD related to childhood maltreatment and 16 healthy control subjects. Connectivity within the SN was assessed via Independent Component Analysis (ICA). Associations with symptom severity were explored with multiple regression analyses on individual subject components.
Temporal multiple regression analyses revealed higher connectivity within the SN during direct versus averted gaze which was more pronounced in individuals with PTSD as compared to healthy controls. Compared to controls, individuals with PTSD showed increased integration of the left amygdala and the right insula within the SN. PTSD symptom severity was positively associated with connectivity of the right mid-cingulate cortex within the SN in PTSD subjects only.
Participants with PTSD showed enhanced coupling of the amygdala and the insula within the SN as compared to healthy control subjects during gaze processing. Our results provide evidence for an increased sensitivity of the salience network to direct versus averted gaze in individuals with PTSD related to childhood maltreatment.
创伤后应激（PTSD）障碍与高度的威胁敏感性有关。有证据表明，直接眼神接触会导致 PTSD 个体的上丘/导水管周围灰质持续激活。本分析在与童年期创伤相关的 PTSD 成人中，研究了与之前发表的研究相同的样本中，在直接与回避注视时，突显网络（SN）内的功能连接，与健康个体相比。
在 16 名与童年期创伤相关的 PTSD 患者和 16 名健康对照组中，参与者观看相对于参与者处于直接或回避注视的头像时，使用功能磁共振成像检查 SN 内的功能连接。通过独立成分分析（ICA）评估 SN 内的连接。使用个体受试者成分的多元回归分析探讨与症状严重程度的关联。
时间多元回归分析显示，在直接注视与回避注视时，SN 内的连接性更高，与健康对照组相比，PTSD 患者更为明显。与对照组相比，PTSD 患者的 SN 内左杏仁核和右岛叶的整合增加。PTSD 症状严重程度与 PTSD 患者 SN 内右中央扣带回的连接性呈正相关。
与健康对照组相比，PTSD 患者在处理注视时，SN 内的杏仁核和岛叶之间的耦合增强。我们的研究结果为与童年期创伤相关的 PTSD 个体对直接和回避注视的突显网络敏感性增加提供了证据。
