Regional cerebral glucose metabolism differentiates danger- and non-danger-based traumas in post-traumatic stress disorder.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is presumably the result of life threats and conditioned fear. However, the neurobiology of fear fails to explain the impact of traumas that do not entail threats. Neuronal function, assessed as glucose metabolism with (18)fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography, was contrasted in active duty, treatment-seeking US Army Soldiers with PTSD endorsing either danger- (n = 19) or non-danger-based (n = 26) traumas, and was compared with soldiers without PTSD (Combat Controls, n = 26) and Civilian Controls (n = 24). Prior meta-analyses of regions associated with fear or trauma script imagery in PTSD were used to compare glucose metabolism across groups. Danger-based traumas were associated with higher metabolism in the right amygdala than the control groups, while non-danger-based traumas associated with heightened precuneus metabolism relative to the danger group. In the danger group, PTSD severity was associated with higher metabolism in precuneus and dorsal anterior cingulate and lower metabolism in left amygdala (R(2 )= 0.61). In the non-danger group, PTSD symptom severity was associated with higher precuneus metabolism and lower right amygdala metabolism (R(2 )= 0.64). These findings suggest a biological basis to consider subtyping PTSD according to the nature of the traumatic context.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Ramage, AE; Litz, BT; Resick, PA; Woolsey, MD; Dondanville, KA; Young-McCaughan, S; Borah, AM; Borah, EV; Peterson, AL; Fox, PT; STRONG STAR Consortium,
Published Date
- February 2016
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 11 / 2
Start / End Page
- 234 - 242
PubMed ID
- 26373348
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC4733332
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1749-5024
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1093/scan/nsv102
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- England