Bertoli Massimo, Croce Pierpaolo, Zappasodi Filippo, Di Matteo Rosalia, Vellante Federica, Pettorruso Mauro, Martinotti Giovanni, Brunetti Marcella
Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University 'G. d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University 'G. d'Annunzio' of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec;16(1):2520638. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2025.2520638. Epub 2025 Jul 2.
Traumatic events can disrupt psychological functioning, leading to conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, not all trauma-exposed individuals develop PTSD. While neurobiological alterations in PTSD are well-documented, the impact of trauma exposure on resting-state (RS) brain activity, particularly dynamics of brain states (microstates, MS), remains unclear. To address this gap, this study investigates RS brain activity of trauma-exposed non-PTSD (TENP) individuals compared to PTSD patients, exploiting magnetoencephalography (MEG) and source-level MS analysis. RS-MEG recordings were obtained from 33 traumatized people (16 PTSD, 17 TENP). Source localization was performed using eLORETA on individual cortical space and parcellated based on the Human Connectome Project atlas. MS analysis at parcel-level provided four MS topographies and related metrics. MS analysis at parcel-level provided four topographies revealing distinct trauma-related modulations in RS dynamics. PTSD patients showed dominance in a bilateral MS overlapping the fronto-parietal network - linked to stress regulation and self-referential processing - positively correlated with symptom severity. Conversely, TENP individuals exhibited dominance in two MSs negatively correlated with symptoms: a right-lateralized cingulo-opercular network supporting salience processing and a left-lateralized sensorimotor network. These findings suggest that trauma exposure differently affects spatio-temporal dynamics of MEG oscillations. Resilience may arise from successful integration of cognitive and sensorimotor processes, detectable as distinct patterns of brain dynamics during rest.
创伤性事件会扰乱心理功能，导致创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）等情况。然而，并非所有经历过创伤的个体都会患上PTSD。虽然PTSD中的神经生物学改变已有充分记录，但创伤暴露对静息态（RS）脑活动的影响，尤其是脑状态（微状态，MS）的动态变化，仍不清楚。为了填补这一空白，本研究利用脑磁图（MEG）和源水平MS分析，调查了与PTSD患者相比，经历过创伤但未患PTSD（TENP）个体的RS脑活动。从33名受过创伤的人（16名PTSD患者，17名TENP个体）获取了RS-MEG记录。使用eLORETA在个体皮质空间进行源定位，并根据人类连接组计划图谱进行分区。在脑区水平的MS分析提供了四种MS地形图和相关指标。在脑区水平的MS分析提供了四种地形图，揭示了RS动态中与创伤相关的不同调制。PTSD患者在与额顶网络重叠的双侧MS中占主导地位，该网络与应激调节和自我参照加工有关，与症状严重程度呈正相关。相反，TENP个体在与症状呈负相关的两种MS中占主导地位：一个支持突显加工的右侧扣带回-岛盖网络和一个左侧感觉运动网络。这些发现表明，创伤暴露对MEG振荡的时空动态有不同影响。恢复力可能源于认知和感觉运动过程的成功整合，在静息状态下可检测为独特的脑动态模式。
