Examining the association between posttraumatic stress disorder and disruptions in cortical networks identified using
Jin Yang1, Ashley A Huggins2,3, Delin Sun2,3,4
1Department of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to reduced cortical thickness in key brain networks, particularly those involved in regulation and emotion processing. These findings highlight widespread structural changes associated with PTSD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Brain Imaging
Background:
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is frequently associated with altered cortical thickness (CT), yet findings vary, with some studies reporting reduced CT and others no difference or even increased CT.
- Previous research often focused on specific brain regions, potentially missing broader network-level changes and facing challenges with multiple comparison corrections in vertex-wise analyses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify vulnerable structural covariance networks (SCNs) associated with PTSD using a data-driven approach, independent of predefined neuroanatomic boundaries.
- To investigate the relationship between CT within identified SCNs and PTSD diagnosis and symptom severity in a large cohort.
Main Methods:
- Utilized non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) on CT data from 961 PTSD patients and 1124 trauma-exposed controls to derive SCNs.
- Employed regression analyses to examine associations between SCNs, PTSD diagnosis, symptom severity, and comorbid conditions (depression, childhood trauma, alcohol abuse).
Main Results:
- NMF identified 20 SCNs that largely corresponded to known functional brain networks.
- PTSD diagnosis showed a significant association with reduced CT in SCNs involving the superior frontal, motor, insular, orbitofrontal, medial occipital, and anterior/posterior cingulate cortices.
- CT within these affected SCNs was negatively correlated with PTSD symptom severity.
Conclusions:
- PTSD diagnosis is associated with widespread reductions in cortical thickness, particularly in prefrontal regulatory regions and broader emotion and sensory processing areas.
- The data-driven SCN approach offers a robust method for identifying neurobiological correlates of PTSD, overcoming limitations of traditional regional analyses.
