Different neural modifications underpin PTSD after different traumatic events: an fMRI meta-analytic study.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety condition that can develop after exposure to trauma such as physical or sexual assault, injury, combat-related trauma, natural disaster or death. Although an increasing number of neurobiological studies carried out over the past 20 years have allowed clarifying the neural substrate of PTSD, the neural modifications underpinning PTSD are still unclear. Here we used activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis (ALE) to determine whether PTSD has a consistent neural substrate. We also explored the possibility that different traumatic events produce different alterations in the PTSD neural network. In neuroimaging studies of PTSD, we found evidence of a consistent neural network including the bilateral insula and cingulate cortex as well as the parietal, frontal and limbic areas. We also found that specific networks of brain areas underpin PTSD after different traumatic events and that these networks may be related to specific aspects of the traumatic events. We discuss our results in light of the functional segregation of the brain areas involved in PTSD.
Neuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome, Rome, Italy. maddalena.boccia@uniroma1.it.|Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. maddalena.boccia@uniroma1.it.
Maddalena
M
Boccia
Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, L'Aquila University, L'Aquila, Italy.
Simonetta
S
D'Amico
Neuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome, Rome, Italy.|Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
Filippo
F
Bianchini
Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, L'Aquila University, L'Aquila, Italy.
Assunta
A
Marano
Department of Psychology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185, Rome, Italy.
Anna Maria
AM
Giannini
Neuropsychology Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome, Rome, Italy.|Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, L'Aquila University, L'Aquila, Italy.
Laura
L
Piccardi
D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*
ALE meta-analysis; PTSD; fMRI