Article

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by a failure of
psychological recovery from a traumatic experience.
At a neural level, it is
associated with abnormalities of the areas of the neural system that process
threatening information, including the amygdala and medial-prefrontal cortex, as
well as of that involved in episodic memory, including the hippocampus. However,
little is known about how the function of these regions may change as one
recovers from the disorder. In this investigation, PTSD patients underwent two
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, 6-9 months apart, while
viewing fearful and neutral faces in preparation for a memory test (administered
outside the scanner). At Time 2, 65% of patients were in remission. Current
symptom levels correlated positively with memory-related fMRI activity in the
amygdala and ventral-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC).
In addition, the change in
activity within the hippocampus and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex
(sgACC) was associated with the degree of symptom improvement (n=18). These
results suggest differential involvement of structures within the fear network in
symptom manifestation and in recovery from PTSD :
whereas activity within the
amygdala and vmPFC appeared to be a marker of current symptom severity,
functional changes in the hippocampus and sgACC reflected recovery. These results
underscore the importance of longitudinal investigations for the identification
of the differential neural structures associated with the expression and
remission of anxiety disorders.
CI - Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS