Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Smaller hippocampal volume in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents the most consistently reported structural alteration in the brain. Subfields of the hippocampus play distinct roles in encoding and processing of memories, which are disrupted in PTSD. We examined PTSD-associated alterations in 12 hippocampal subfields in relation to global hippocampal shape, and clinical features. METHODS: Case-control cross-sectional studies of U.S. military veterans (n = 282) from the Iraq and Afghanistan era were grouped into PTSD (n = 142) and trauma-exposed controls (n = 140). Participants underwent clinical evaluation for PTSD and associated clinical parameters followed by MRI at 3 T. Segmentation with FreeSurfer v6.0 produced hippocampal subfield volumes for the left and right CA1, CA3, CA4, DG, fimbria, fissure, hippocampus-amygdala transition area, molecular layer, parasubiculum, presubiculum, subiculum, and tail, as well as hippocampal meshes. Covariates included age, gender, trauma exposure, alcohol use, depressive symptoms, antidepressant medication use, total hippocampal volume, and MRI scanner model. RESULTS: = 3.32, P = 0.07) is present and the other subfield findings are nonsignificant if ipsilateral whole hippocampal volume is not included as a covariate. PTSD-associated differences in global hippocampal shape were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: The present finding of smaller hippocampal CA1 in PTSD is consistent with model systems in rodents that exhibit increased anxiety-like behavior from repeated exposure to acute stress. Behavioral correlations with hippocampal subfield volume differences in PTSD will elucidate their relevance to PTSD, particularly behaviors of associative fear learning, extinction training, and formation of false memories.
Source: Depression and Anxiety
DOI: 10.1002/da.22833
Authors: Lyon W. Chen, Delin Sun, Sarah L. Davis, Courtney C. Haswell, Emily L. Dennis, Chelsea A. Swanson, Christopher D. Whelan, Boris Gutman, Neda Jahanshad, Juan Eugenio Iglesias, Paul Thompson, Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Workgroup, H. Ryan Wagner, Philipp Saemann, Kevin S. LaBar, Rajendra A. Morey
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Research and Development, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, NIH Clinical Center, Center for Scientific Review, H2020 European Research Council
Awards: G1241848103, G1807378263, G2082167649, G2774728400, G2861900854, G3040269410, HARDI Mapping of Disease Effects on the Brain, G398707141, G4397749212, Alzheimer's disease risk analyzed using population imaging genomics, Longitudinal Tracking of Traumatic Brain Injury: Advanced Connectomics, G5178907469, ENIGMA Center for Worldwide Medicine, Imaging & Genomics, FMRI Assessment of Attention and Memory in PTSD, G6492328546, White Matter Damage in Subconcussive Blast Exposure, G6753632887, G7414342802, G7780546673, G799562232, G8170441728, G852351504, Predicting Brain Changes in HIV/AIDS, G9000210308, Genomic Architecture of Functional Brain Networks in PTSD
OpenAlex ID: W2951322312