Altered resting-state functional connectivity of basolateral and centromedial amygdala complexes in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Abstract
The amygdala is a major structure that orchestrates defensive reactions to environmental
threats and is implicated in hypervigilance and symptoms of heightened arousal in
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The basolateral and centromedial amygdala (CMA)
complexes are functionally heterogeneous, with distinct roles in learning and expressing
fear behaviors. PTSD differences in amygdala-complex function and functional connectivity
with cortical and subcortical structures remain unclear. Recent military veterans
with PTSD (n=20) and matched trauma-exposed controls (n=22) underwent a resting-state
fMRI scan to measure task-free synchronous blood-oxygen level dependent activity.
Whole-brain voxel-wise functional connectivity of basolateral and CMA seeds was compared
between groups. The PTSD group had stronger functional connectivity of the basolateral
amygdala (BLA) complex with the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsomedial
prefrontal cortex, and dorsal ACC than the trauma-exposed control group (p<0.05; corrected).
The trauma-exposed control group had stronger functional connectivity of the BLA complex
with the left inferior frontal gyrus than the PTSD group (p<0.05; corrected). The
CMA complex lacked connectivity differences between groups. We found PTSD modulates
BLA complex connectivity with prefrontal cortical targets implicated in cognitive
control of emotional information, which are central to explanations of core PTSD symptoms.
PTSD differences in resting-state connectivity of BLA complex could be biasing processes
in target regions that support behaviors central to prevailing laboratory models of
PTSD such as associative fear learning. Further research is needed to investigate
how differences in functional connectivity of amygdala complexes affect target regions
that govern behavior, cognition, and affect in PTSD.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdultAmygdala
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Nerve Net
Neural Pathways
Rest
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10969Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1038/npp.2013.197Publication Info
Brown, Vanessa M; LaBar, Kevin S; Haswell, Courtney C; Gold, Andrea L; Mid-Atlantic
MIRECC Workgroup; McCarthy, Gregory; & Morey, Rajendra A (2014). Altered resting-state functional connectivity of basolateral and centromedial amygdala
complexes in posttraumatic stress disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(2). pp. 351-359. 10.1038/npp.2013.197. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/10969.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kevin S. LaBar
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
My research focuses on understanding how emotional events modulate cognitive processes
in the human brain. We aim to identify brain regions that encode the emotional properties
of sensory stimuli, and to show how these regions interact with neural systems supporting
social cognition, executive control, and learning and memory. To achieve this goal,
we use a variety of cognitive neuroscience techniques in human subject populations.
These include psychophysiological monitoring, functional magnetic
Rajendra A. Morey
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Research in my lab is focused on brain changes associated with posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
We apply several advanced methods for understanding brain function including functional
MRI, structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and genetic effects.
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