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Amygdala Nuclei Volume and Shape in Military Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Source :
- Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2020.
-
Abstract
- BACKGROUND: The amygdala is a subcortical structure involved in socioemotional and associative fear learning processes relevant for understanding the mechanisms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research in animals indicates that the amygdala is a heterogeneous structure in which the basolateral and centromedial divisions are susceptible to stress. While the amygdala complex is implicated in the pathophysiology of PTSD, little is known about the specific contributions of the individual nuclei that constitute the amygdala complex. METHODS: Military veterans (n = 355), including military veterans with PTSD (n = 149) and trauma-exposed control subjects without PTSD (n = 206), underwent high-resolution T1-weighted anatomical scans. Automated FreeSurfer segmentation of the amygdala yielded 9 structures: basal, lateral, accessory basal, anterior amygdaloid, and central, medial, cortical, and paralaminar nuclei, along with the corticoamygdaloid transition zone. Subregional volumes were compared between groups using ordinary-least-squares regression with relevant demographic and clinical regressors followed by 3-dimensional shape analysis of whole amygdala. RESULTS: PTSD was associated with smaller left and right lateral and paralaminar nuclei, but with larger left and right central, medial, and cortical nuclei (p < .05, false discovery rate corrected). Shape analyses revealed lower radial distance in anterior bilateral amygdala and lower Jacobian determinant in posterior bilateral amygdala in PTSD compared with control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Alterations in select amygdala subnuclear volumes and regional shape distortions are associated with PTSD in military veterans. Volume differences of the lateral nucleus and the centromedial complex associated with PTSD demonstrate a subregion-specific pattern that is consistent with their functional roles in fear learning and fear expression behaviors.
- Subjects :
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Amygdala
Article
050105 experimental psychology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Risk Factors
medicine
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging
Fear learning
Biological Psychiatry
Veterans
U s military
Socioemotional selectivity theory
business.industry
05 social sciences
Amygdala nuclei
Control subjects
Posttraumatic stress
Military Personnel
medicine.anatomical_structure
nervous system
Lateral nucleus
Neurology (clinical)
business
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 24519022
- Volume :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....78ffde59824b3c296b6c0362799b19a0
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.11.016