[Study of functional connectivity density mapping in patients with acute stress response by using resting-state...

Objective: To explore the changes of brain activity in traffic accident survivors with acute stress response within a week by using functional connectivity density (FCD) method. Method: A total of 20 traffic accidents survivors with acute stress disorders (acute stress disorder interview >3) and twenty healthy controls from Nanjing Jinling Hospital underwent the 3.0 T resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan from January 2013 to February 2016. Functional connectivity density mapping was used to compare the brain functional connective networks between acute stress response survivors and controls. In additional, Pearson correlation was performed between abnormal short, long-range FCD values and clinical indices. Results: (1) Compared with controls, patients with acute stress response showed decreased short-range FCD in left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (-0.815±0.264 vs-0.468±0.615, t=-2.198, P<0.05), left hippocampal and parahippocampal gyri (-1.212±0.135 vs-0.887±0.234), t=-5.070, all P<0.05), and increased short-range FCD in right precentral gyrus(0.428±0.256 vs 0.016±0.298, t=4.456, P<0.05), left inferior parietal and superior parietal lobes (0.623±0.290 vs 0.143±0.300, t=4.878, allP<0.05); (2)compared with normal controls, ASR patients showed increased long-range FCD in left precuneus (0.502±0.400 vs-0.042±0.253, t=4.879, P<0.05); (3)the HAMA score of patients positively correlated with short-range FCD value of the left vmPFC (r=0.50, P<0.05). Conclusion: The long-and short-range functional connectivity in frontal-limbic system is widely changed in survivors with acute stress response, especially the short-range FCD change more significantly, and partly correlated with the severity of their stress symptoms.