The triple network model provides a common framework for understanding affective and neurocognitive dysfunctions across multiple disorders, including central executive network (CEN), default mode network (DMN), and salience network (SN). Considering the effect of traumatic experience on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this study aims to explore the alteration of triple network connectivity in a specific PTSD induced by a single prolonged trauma exposure. With arterial spin labeling sequence, three networks were identified using independent component analysis in 10 PTSD patients and 10 healthy survivors, who experienced the same coal mining flood disaster. In PTSD patients, decreased connectivity was identified in left middle frontal gyrus of CEN, left precuneus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus of DMN, and right anterior insula of SN. The decreased connectivity in left middle frontal gyrus was identified to associate with clinical severity. These results indicated the decreased triple network connectivity, which not only supported the proposal of the triple network model, but also prompted possible neurobiology mechanism of cognitive dysfunction for this kind of PTSD.
To explore the alteration in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and functional connectivity between survivors with recent onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and without PTSD, survived from the same coal mine flood disaster. In this study, a processing pipeline using arterial spin labeling (ASL) sequence was proposed. Considering low spatial resolution of ASL sequence, a linear regression method was firstly used to correct the partial volume (PV) effect for better CBF estimation. Then the alterations of CBF between two groups were analyzed using both uncorrected and PV-corrected CBF maps. Based on altered CBF regions detected from the CBF analysis as seed regions, the functional connectivity abnormities in PTSD patients was investigated. The CBF analysis using PV-corrected maps indicates CBF deficits in the bilateral frontal lobe, right superior frontal gyrus and right corpus callosum of PTSD patients, while only right corpus callosum was identified in uncorrected CBF analysis. Furthermore, the regional CBF of the right superior frontal gyrus exhibits significantly negative correlation with the symptom severity in PTSD patients. The resting-state functional connectivity indicates increased connectivity between left frontal lobe and right parietal lobe. These results indicate that PV-corrected CBF exhibits more subtle perfusion changes and may benefit further perfusion and connectivity analysis. The symptom-specific perfusion deficits and aberrant connectivity in above memory-related regions may be putative biomarkers for recent onset PTSD induced by a single prolonged trauma exposure and help predict the severity of PTSD.
To explore the alteration in white matter between survivors with recent onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and without PTSD, who survived from the same coal mine flood disaster, the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) sequences were analyzed using DTI studio and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) packages in this paper. From DTI sequence, the fractional anisotropy (FA) value describes the degree of anisotropy of a diffusion process, while the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value reflects the magnitude of water diffusion. The DTI analyses between PTSD and non-PTSD indicate lower FA values in the right caudate nucleus, right middle temporal gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, and right superior temporal gyrus, and higher ADC values in the right superior temporal gyrus and right corpus callosum of the subjects with PTSD. These results are partly in line with our previous volume and cortical thickness analyses, indicating the importance of multi-modality analysis for PTSD.
KEYWORDS: Control systems, Functional magnetic resonance imaging, Microsoft Foundation Class Library, Spectral models, Imaging informatics, Mental disorders, Diagnostics and therapeutics, Medicine, Statistical analysis, Independent component analysis, Magnetic resonance imaging, Brain, Motion models, Optimization (mathematics)
Understanding the neural basis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is important for the diagnosis and treatment of this
mental disorder. The default mode network (DMN) is considered to be highly involved in the MDD. To find directed
interaction between DMN regions associated with the development of MDD, the effective connectivity within the DMN
of the MDD patients and matched healthy controls was estimated by using a recently developed spectral dynamic causal
modeling. Sixteen patients with MDD and sixteen matched healthy control subjects were included in this study. While
the control group underwent the resting state fMRI scan just once, all patients underwent resting state fMRI scans before
and after two months’ treatment. The spectral dynamic causal modeling was used to estimate directed connections
between four DMN nodes. Statistical analysis on connection strengths indicated that efferent connections from the
medial frontal cortex (MFC) to posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and to right parietal cortex (RPC) were significant
higher in pretreatment MDD patients than those of the control group. After two-month treatment, the efferent
connections from the MFC decreased significantly, while those from the left parietal cortex (LPC) to MFC, PCC and
RPC showed a significant increase. These findings suggest that the MFC may play an important role for inhibitory
conditioning of the DMN, which was disrupted in MDD patients. It also indicates that disrupted suppressive function of
the MFC could be effectively restored after two-month treatment.
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