title: Abnormal Functional Connectivity Density in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in individuals who have experienced life-threatening mental traumas. Previous neuroimaging studies have indicated that the pathology of PTSD may be associated with the abnormal functional integration among brain regions. In the current study, we used functional connectivity density (FCD) mapping, a novel voxel-wise data-driven approach based on graph theory, to explore aberrant FC through the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging of the PTSD. We calculated both short- and long-range FCD in PTSD patients and healthy controls (HCs). Compared with HCs, PTSD patients showed significantly increased long-range FCD in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), but no abnormal short-range FCD was found in PTSD. Furthermore, seed-based FC analysis of the left DLPFC showed increased connectivity in the left superior parietal lobe and visual cortex of PTSD patients. The results suggested that PTSD patients experienced a disruption of intrinsic long-range functional connections in the fronto-parietal network and visual cortex, which are associated with attention control and visual information processing.
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Youxue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Third Military Medical University, 30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing, 400038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People's Republic of China.|Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in BioMedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, People's Republic of China. chenhf@uestc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huafu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D063132:Connectome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Functional connectivity density; Post-traumatic stress disorder