Preliminary Study of Acute Changes in Emotion Processing in Trauma Survivors with PTSD Symptoms

Accumulating evidence suggests traumatic experience can rapidly alter brain activation associated with emotion processing. However, little is known about acute changes in emotion neurocircuits that underlie PTSD symptom development. To examine acute alterations in emotion circuit activation and stru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2016-07, Vol.11 (7), p.e0159065-e0159065
Main Authors: Wang, Xin, Xie, Hong, Cotton, Andrew S, Duval, Elizabeth R, Tamburrino, Marijo B, Brickman, Kristopher R, Elhai, Jon D, Ho, S Shaun, McLean, Samuel A, Ferguson, Eric J, Liberzon, Israel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic
Activation
Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety
Biology and Life Sciences
Brain
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain Mapping
Cortex (frontal)
Cortex (insular)
Development and progression
Emergency medical care
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Facial Expression
Fear - psychology
Female
Frontal gyrus
Humans
Injuries
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medicine and Health Sciences
Middle Aged
Mining accidents & safety
Motor vehicles
Photic Stimulation
Physiological aspects
Post traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Prefrontal cortex
Psychiatry
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk factors
Social Sciences
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnostic imaging
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
Survivors
Trauma
Trends
Young Adult
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Summary:Accumulating evidence suggests traumatic experience can rapidly alter brain activation associated with emotion processing. However, little is known about acute changes in emotion neurocircuits that underlie PTSD symptom development. To examine acute alterations in emotion circuit activation and structure that may be linked to PTSD symptoms, thirty-eight subjects performed a task of appraisal of emotional faces as their brains were functionally and structurally studied with MRI at both two weeks and three months after motor vehicle collision (MVC). As determined by symptoms reported in the PTSD Checklist at three months, sixteen survivors developed probable PTSD, whereas the remaining 22 did not meet criteria for PTSD diagnosis (non-PTSD). The probable PTSD group had greater activation than the non-PTSD group in dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC and vmPFC) while appraising fearful faces within two weeks after MVC and in left insular cortex (IC) three months after MVC. dmPFC activation at two weeks significantly positively correlated with PTSD symptom severity at two weeks (R = 0.462, P = 0.006) and three months (R = 0.418, p = 0.012). Changes over time in dmPFC activation and in PTSD symptom severity were also significantly positively correlated in the probable PTSD group (R = 0.641, P = 0.018). A significant time by group interaction was found for volume changes in left superior frontal gyrus (SFG, F = 6.048, p = 0.019) that partially overlapped dmPFC active region. Between two weeks and three months, left SFG volume decreased in probable PTSD survivors. These findings identify alterations in frontal cortical activity and structure during the early post-trauma period that appear to be associated with development of PTSD symptoms.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0159065