title: Visual imagery and perception in posttraumatic stress disorder. A positron emission tomographic investigation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relative regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes were measured in Vietnam combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during exposure to combat-related stimuli.
  
  
  METHODS
  Positron emission tomography was used to measure rCBF in 7 combat veterans with PTSD (PTSD group) and 7 healthy combat veterans (control group) who viewed and generated visual mental images of neutral, negative, and combat-related pictures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Unlike control subjects, subjects with PTSD had increased rCBF in ventral anterior cingulate gyrus and right amygdala when generating mental images of combat-related pictures; when viewing combat pictures, subjects with PTSD showed decreased rCBF in Broca's area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that ventral anterior cingulate gyrus and right amygdala play a role in the response of combat veterans with PTSD to mental images of combat-related scenes. Reexperiencing phenomena of PTSD, which often involve emotional visual mental imagery, may be likewise associated with increased rCBF in these regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass, USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kosslyn
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McNally
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Macklin
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Pitman
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000523:psychology*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014857:Warfare