title: Breakdown of Inter-Hemispheric Connectivity Is Associated with Posttraumatic Symptomatology and Memory Impairment.
abstract: Altered brain anatomy in specific gray-matter regions has been shown in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recently, white-matter tracts have become a focus of research in PTSD. The corpus callosum (CC) is the principal white-matter fiber bundle, crucial in relaying sensory, motor and cognitive information between hemispheres. Alterations in CC fibers have been reported in PTSD and might be assumed to underlie substantial behavioral and cognitive sequelae; however most diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies in adult-onset PTSD failed to address the clinical correlates between imaging and PTSD symptoms severity, behavioral manifestation and cognitive functions. In the current study we examined (a) to what extent microstructural integrity of the CC is associated with memory performance and (b) whether imaging and cognitive parameters are associated with PTSD symptom severity. DTI data were obtained and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were computed for 16 patients and 14 controls. PTSD symptom severity was assessed by employing the clinician administered PTSD scale (CAPS) and memory was tested using a task probing item and associative memory for words and pictures. Significant correlations were found between PTSD symptoms severity, memory accuracy and reaction-time to CC FA values in the PTSD group. This study demonstrates meaningful clinical and cognitive correlates of microstructural connectivity. These results have implications for diagnostic tools and future studies aimed at identifying individuals at risk for PTSD.
authors: Department of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Zlotowski center for Neuroscience Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.|Department of Psychology and the School of Social-work, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel.
authors: Rotem
authors: R
authors: Saar-Ashkenazy
authors: Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Ronel
authors: R
authors: Veksler
authors: Department of Psychology, Achva Academic College, Beer-Tuvia regional council, Israel.|Beer-Sheva Mental Health Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Guez
authors: Sagol School of Neuroscience and The Functional Brain Imaging Unit, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors: Yael
authors: Y
authors: Jacob
authors: Department of Radiology, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Ilan
authors: I
authors: Shelef
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors: Hadar
authors: H
authors: Shalev
authors: Department of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Zlotowski center for Neuroscience Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.|Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.|Department of Medical Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors: Alon
authors: A
authors: Friedman
authors: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors: Jonathan E
authors: JE
authors: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D003071:Cognition; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult