Functional neuroanatomy of robbery re-experience: affective memories studied with PET

Using positron emission tomography (PET) and [15O]butanol, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was determined in six bank officials during exposure to a video of a jointly experienced armed bank robbery, and a control video. Besides elevating subjective and physiological indices of anxiety, traumatic stimulation increased rCBF bilaterally in the primary and secondary visual cortex, the posterior gyrus cinguli and in the left orbitofrontal cortex compared with that during the control stimulation. Decreased rCBF was found in Broca's area, the left angular gyrus, the left operculum and the secondary somatosensory cortex. Thus, the stress induced by visual re-experience of a robbery is associated with altered activity in paralimbic and cortical brain regions of relevance for cognition and affect.