title: Interpersonal violence in posttraumatic women: brain networks triggered by trauma-related pictures.
abstract: Interpersonal violence (IPV) is one of the most frequent causes for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women. Trauma-related triggers have been proposed to evoke automatic emotional responses in PTSD. The present functional magnetic resonance study investigated the neural basis of trauma-related picture processing in women with IPV-PTSD (n = 18) relative to healthy controls (n = 18) using a newly standardized trauma-related picture set and a non-emotional vigilance task. We aimed to identify brain activation and connectivity evoked by trauma-related pictures, and associations with PTSD symptom severity. We found hyperactivation during trauma-related vs neutral picture processing in both subcortical [basolateral amygdala (BLA), thalamus, brainstem] and cortical [anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), insula, occipital cortex] regions in IPV-PTSD. In patients, brain activation in amygdala, ACC, insula, occipital cortex and brainstem correlated positively with symptom severity. Furthermore, connectivity analyses revealed hyperconnectivity between BLA and dorsal ACC/mPFC. Results show symptom severity-dependent brain activation and hyperconnectivity in response to trauma-related pictures in brain regions related to fear and visual processing in women suffering from IPV-PTSD. These brain mechanisms appear to be associated with immediate responses to trauma-related triggers presented in a non-emotional context in this PTSD subgroup.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Neumeister
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feldker
authors.forename: Carina Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Heitmann
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Helmich
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gathmann
authors.forename: Michael P I
authors.initials: MPI
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Straube
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: PTSD; amygdala; functional connectivity; neurocircuitry; symptom severity