1 Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital, Haikou, China.
2 Mental Health Institute, The Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2019 Jan;53(1):68-79. doi: 10.1177/0004867418812674. Epub 2018 Nov 19.
The brain functional alterations at regional and network levels in post-traumatic stress disorder patients are still unclear. This study explored brain functional alterations at regional and network levels in post-traumatic stress disorder patients with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and evaluated the relationship between brain function and clinical indices in post-traumatic stress disorder.
Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and seed-based functional connectivity analyses were conducted among typhoon survivors with ( n = 27) and without post-traumatic stress disorder ( n = 33) and healthy controls ( n = 30) to assess the spontaneous brain activity and network-level brain function. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine the association of brain function with clinical symptom and social support.
Both the post-traumatic stress disorder group and the trauma-exposed control group showed decreased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex relative to the healthy control group. The post-traumatic stress disorder group showed increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right paracentral lobule and bilateral precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus relative to both control groups. Both traumatized groups exhibited decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right hippocampus and left cerebellum relative to the healthy control group. More decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right hippocampus was found in the post-traumatic stress disorder group. The Checklist-Civilian Version score positively correlated with functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the right paracentral lobule as well as between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the right precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus. The social support was associated with functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the bilateral precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus as well as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the left middle frontal gyrus.
Trauma exposure may result in aberrant local and network-level functional connectivity in individuals with or without post-traumatic stress disorder. Altered amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex may be a predisposing risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder development following trauma exposure. More prominent decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right hippocampus might be specific in the post-traumatic stress disorder group. Improvement of social support might possibly be significant for post-traumatic stress disorder patients.
创伤后应激障碍患者在区域和网络水平上的大脑功能改变仍不清楚。本研究通过静息态功能磁共振成像探讨创伤后应激障碍患者的区域和网络水平上的大脑功能改变，并评估大脑功能与创伤后应激障碍临床指标之间的关系。
对台风幸存者（创伤后应激障碍组，n=27；创伤暴露对照组，n=33）和健康对照组（n=30）进行低频振幅和基于种子的功能连接分析，以评估自发性脑活动和网络水平的脑功能。采用 Pearson 相关分析评估大脑功能与临床症状和社会支持的相关性。
与健康对照组相比，创伤后应激障碍组和创伤暴露对照组的背侧前扣带回低频振幅均降低。与两组对照组相比，创伤后应激障碍组的背侧前扣带回与右侧旁中央小叶和双侧中央前回/中央后回的功能连接增加。与健康对照组相比，两组创伤组的背侧前扣带回与右侧海马和左侧小脑的功能连接均降低。与创伤暴露对照组相比，创伤后应激障碍组的背侧前扣带回与右侧海马的功能连接降低更明显。创伤后应激障碍组的检查表-平民版评分与背侧前扣带回与右侧旁中央小叶以及背侧前扣带回与右侧中央前回/中央后回之间的功能连接呈正相关。社会支持与背侧前扣带回与双侧中央前回/中央后回以及背侧前扣带回与左侧额中回之间的功能连接有关。
创伤暴露可能导致创伤后应激障碍患者或无创伤后应激障碍患者的局部和网络水平功能连接异常。背侧前扣带回低频振幅的改变可能是创伤后应激障碍发生的易患风险因素。与右侧海马的背侧前扣带脑功能连接的明显减少可能是创伤后应激障碍组的特异性表现。社会支持的改善可能对创伤后应激障碍患者有重要意义。
