Original ArticleEvidence for Acquired Pregenual Anterior Cingulate Gray Matter Loss from a Twin Study of Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Section snippets
Subjects
The strategy for subject ascertainment and recruitment has been presented elsewhere (16). The sample was described in detail in the report of our previous hippocampus manual tracing study (15). This study reanalyzed the same MRI scans from the same subjects. In the previous study, one combat-exposed twin with PTSD and his combat-unexposed cotwin were removed from the analysis because the former was an extreme, asymmetrical outlier for manually traced hippocampal volume. This subject and his
Demographics and Psychometrics
Group mean age, Combat Severity Score (26), total Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) score (27), number of potentially traumatic lifetime noncombat events (16), total Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) score (28), and Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) Depression scale score (29), along with statistical analyses, are presented in Table 1. It may be seen that age was similar among subject groups. Combat-exposed twins with PTSD had more severe combat exposure than
Discussion
Of the seven loci at which combat-exposed twins with PTSD had lower gray matter density than combat-exposed twins without PTSD at a liberal threshold of p < .001, four were located in predicted brain regions, namely, right hippocampus, pregenual ACC, and left anterior and right midinsula, even though the predicted brain regions occupy less than 10% of total gray matter volume. This regional specificity supports the validity of our results and implicates limbic and paralimbic structures as the
References (50)
- et al.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement of hippocampal volume in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis
J Affect Disord
(2005) - et al.
Smaller volume of anterior cingulate cortex in abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder
J Affect Disord
(2006) - et al.
Fear extinction in rats: Implications for human brain imaging and anxiety disorders
Biol Psychol
(2006) - et al.
Mapping of grey matter changes in schizophrenia
Schizophr Res
(1999) - et al.
Regional changes in brain gray and white matter in patients with schizophrenia demonstrated with voxel-based analysis of MRI
Schizophr Res
(2002) - et al.
A voxel-based approach to gray matter asymmetries
Neuroimage
(2004) - et al.
Size vs. shape differences: Contrasting voxel-based and volumetric analyses of the anterior cingulate cortex in individuals with PTSD
Biol Psychiatry
(2005) - et al.
Gray matter density reduction in the insula in fire survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: A voxel-based morphometric study
Psychiatry Res
(2006) - et al.
Multimodal image coregistration and partitioning—a unified framework
Neuroimage
(1997) - et al.
Voxel-based morphometry—the methods
Neuroimage
(2000)
Voxel-based morphometric analysis of gray matter in first episode schizophrenia
Neuroimage
Thresholding of statistical maps in functional neuroimaging using the false discovery rate
Neuroimage
Neurocircuitry models of posttraumatic stress disorder and extinction: Human neuroimaging research—past, present, and future
Biol Psychiatry
An insular view of anxiety
Biol Psychiatry
The neurobiology of stress: From serendipity to clinical relevance
Brain Res
Chronic behavioral stress induces apical dendritic reorganization in pyramidal neurons of the medial prefrontal cortex
Neuroscience
A magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging study of adult nonhuman primates exposed to early-life stressors
Biol Psychiatry
Early life stress and morphometry of the adult anterior cingulate cortex and caudate nuclei
Biol Psychiatry
Decreased anterior cingulate volume in combat-related PTSD
Biol Psychiatry
Why voxel-based morphometric analysis should be used with great caution when characterizing group differences
Neuroimage
Selectively reduced regional cortical volumes in post-traumatic stress disorder
Neuroreport
Traumatic stress: Effects on the brain
Dialogues Clin Neurosci
Neural basis of an inherited speech and language disorder
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Voxel-based analysis of MRI reveals anterior cingulate gray-matter volume reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder due to terrorism
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Atrophy of the hippocampus in posttraumatic stress disorder: How and when?
Hippocampus
Cited by (284)
Posttraumatic stress disorder
2023, Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Third Edition: Volume 1-3Exaggerated amygdala activation to ambiguous facial expressions is a familial vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder
2022, Journal of Psychiatric ResearchAn examination of volumetric and cortical thickness correlates of posttraumatic nightmares in male active duty service members
2022, Psychiatry Research - NeuroimagingPractical Considerations for Treating Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Addictions Clinic: Approaches to Clinical Care, Leadership, and Alleviating Shame
2022, Psychiatric Clinics of North America