title: Effect of direct eye contact in women with PTSD related to interpersonal trauma: Psychophysiological interaction analysis of connectivity of an innate alarm system.
abstract: In healthy individuals, direct eye contact is thought to modulate a cortical route eliciting social cognitive processes via activation of a fast subcortical pathway. This study aimed to examine functional brain connectivity during direct eye contact in women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse as compared with healthy controls. We conducted psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses in Statistical Parametric Mapping-8 (SPM8) using the superior colliculus (SC) and locus coeruleus (LC) as seed regions while 16 healthy subjects and 16 patients with a primary diagnosis of PTSD related to childhood maltreatment viewed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm involving direct (D) versus averted (A) gaze (happy, sad, neutral). The PTSD group showed a significantly enhanced connectivity between the SC and the anterior cingulate, and between the LC and the thalamus, caudate, putamen, insula, cingulate gyrus, and amygdala, as compared with healthy individuals. Symptom severity scores on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) showed significant positive correlations with superior colliculus connectivity with the perigenual and posterior cingulate, insula, and sublenticular extended amygdala. Functional connectivity data suggest increased recruitment of brain regions involved in emotion processing during direct gaze in PTSD in association with the fast subcortical pathway. The interpretation of eye contact as a signal of threat may require more emotion regulatory capacities in patients with PTSD.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada; Forschungsabteilung der Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors: Carolin
authors: C
authors: Steuwe
authors: Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Magdeburg, Germany.
authors: Judith K
authors: JK
authors: Daniels
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
authors: Paul A
authors: PA
authors: Frewen
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Densmore
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada; Department of Medical Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada.
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Theberge
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada. Electronic address: ruth.lanius@lhsc.on.ca.
authors: Ruth A
authors: RA
authors: Lanius
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004644:Emotions; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Connectivity analyses; Eye gaze; Locus ceruleus; PTSD; Social cognition; Superior colliculus