Annual Research Review: Pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder from a neurodevelopmental network perspective
Carl F Weems1, Justin D Russell2, Erin L Neill1
1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Insights
Traumatic stress impacts children
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Traumatic stress is common in youth and can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Neurobiological correlates of traumatic stress response in children are being explored using advanced imaging.
- Research is beginning to understand the brain's response to trauma in young individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize the network perspective of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
- To review brain imaging research on structural and functional connectivity in pediatric samples.
- To highlight the role of neuroimaging in understanding PTSD in children and adolescents.
Main Methods:
- Review of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.
- Focus on structural and functional connectivity in pediatric populations.
- Examination of network-based approaches to PTSD symptoms.
Main Results:
- Differences in structural connections and functional networks (salience, default mode, central executive) are linked to early life stress.
- Developmental changes in brain regions and networks are significant in childhood.
- Traumatic stress may affect typical developmental trajectories in brain structure and function.
Conclusions:
- Future research should adopt a developmental approach, viewing growth as an interacting factor with trauma.
- Understanding how development influences brain disruptions in PTSD is crucial.
- Linking PTSD symptom networks with neurodevelopmental network models offers a promising research direction.
Background:
Experiencing traumatic stress is common and may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a number of children and adolescents. Research using advanced imaging techniques is beginning to elucidate some of the neurobiological correlates of the traumatic stress response in youth.
Methods:
This paper summarizes the emerging network perspective of PTSD symptoms and reviews brain imaging research emphasizing structural and functional connectivity studies that employ magnetic resonance imaging techniques in pediatric samples.
Results:
Differences in structural connections and distributed functional networks such as the salience, default mode, and central executive networks are associated with traumatic and severe early life stress. The role of development has been relatively underappreciated in extant studies though there is evidence that critical brain regions as well as the structural and functional networks implicated undergo significant change in childhood and these typical developmental differences may be affected by traumatic stress.
Conclusions:
Future research will benefit from adopting a truly developmental approach that considers children's growth as a meaningful effect (rather than simply a covariate) interacting with traumatic stress to predict disruptions in the anatomical, functional, and connective aspects of brain systems thought to underlie the network of PTSD symptoms. Linking symptom networks with neurodevelopmental network models may be a promising avenue for future work.
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