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Updated: Jul 12, 2026
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Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity
Published on: July 1, 2014
Connectivity patterns in the DMN that are impacted by traumatic stress.
Dayan Knox1, Negin Mohammadmirzaei1, Simone Lunn1
1University of Delaware.
Research Square
|July 10, 2026
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves altered default mode network (DMN) connectivity. This study in rats shows single prolonged stress (SPS) disrupts DMN connectivity, particularly during extinction testing, offering insights into PTSD mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Altered default mode network (DMN) connectivity is linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- The specific pathways and patterns of DMN changes in response to trauma remain unclear.
- Understanding these changes is crucial for elucidating PTSD pathophysiology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how single prolonged stress (SPS), a rat model of traumatic stress, alters DMN connectivity.
- To identify critical DMN nodes and connectivity patterns affected by SPS.
- To explore the relationship between DMN connectivity changes and extinction memory deficits in SPS.
Main Methods:
- Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FConn) was analyzed using graph theory in a rat model.
- Modular and graph theory tools were employed to characterize DMN connectivity.
- Correlated c-Fos levels approximated DMN connectivity during fear conditioning and extinction learning.
Main Results:
- A set of anterior-posterior (A-P) edges connecting DMN nodes, particularly the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and rostral retrosplenial cortex (rRSC), were identified.
- SPS disrupted the decrease in A-P edge frequency and graph connectivity observed with repeated scanning in control rats.
- While SPS generally decreased DMN connectivity, it enhanced connectivity during extinction testing.
Conclusions:
- Single prolonged stress (SPS) decreases overall DMN connectivity and disrupts adaptive connectivity changes.
- Specific DMN connectivity aspects, especially during extinction testing, are enhanced by SPS.
- These findings suggest a complex role for DMN alterations in the manifestation of traumatic stress effects and PTSD.
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