PMID- 16461862
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20060216
LR  - 20161124
IS  - 0003-990X (Print)
IS  - 0003-990X (Linking)
VI  - 63
IP  - 2
DP  - 2006 Feb
TI  - Corticolimbic blood flow during nontraumatic emotional processing in 
      posttraumatic stress disorder.
PG  - 184-92
AB  - CONTEXT: Recent brain imaging studies implicate dysfunction of limbic and 
      paralimbic circuitry, including the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), 
      in the pathogenesis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during traumatic 
      recollection and imagery. However, the relationship between activity in these 
      regions and general emotional processing unrelated to traumatic experience has 
      not been fully examined. OBJECTIVE: To investigate activity in the limbic and 
      paralimbic brain regions in PTSD in response to a challenge with emotionally 
      salient generic visual images. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, case-control study. 
      SETTING: Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen Vietnam veterans with 
      combat-related PTSD (PTSD group), 15 combat-exposed Vietnam veterans without PTSD 
      (combat control group), and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (normal 
      control group). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We used positron emission tomography to 
      study regional cerebral blood flow while participants viewed complex visual 
      pictures with negatively valenced/aversive, nonaversive ("neutral"), and blank 
      pictures. Psychophysiologic and emotional self-report data were also recorded. 
      RESULTS: All 3 groups activated the dorsal MPFC to general salient content. 
      Controls without PTSD activated the left amygdala in response to aversive 
      stimuli. Normal controls activated the ventral MPFC and combat-exposed non-PTSD 
      and PTSD participants exhibited either no response or deactivation in these 
      regions, respectively, during negative emotional experience. CONCLUSIONS: 
      Consistent with current functional neuroanatomic models, patients with PTSD 
      exhibited altered neural responses in the amygdala and ventral MPFC during the 
      processing of emotionally salient but trauma-unrelated stimuli, potentially 
      reflecting disorder-specific changes. Activation of the amygdala and lack of 
      ventral MPFC deactivation to negatively valenced images in combat controls may 
      reflect compensatory changes after trauma exposure that are not associated with 
      PTSD.
FAU - Phan, K Luan
AU  - Phan KL
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, 
      Chicago, Ill, USA.
FAU - Britton, Jennifer C
AU  - Britton JC
FAU - Taylor, Stephan F
AU  - Taylor SF
FAU - Fig, Lorraine M
AU  - Fig LM
FAU - Liberzon, Israel
AU  - Liberzon I
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - Arch Gen Psychiatry
JT  - Archives of general psychiatry
JID - 0372435
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Amygdala/blood supply/diagnostic imaging
MH  - Arousal/physiology
MH  - Brain Mapping
MH  - Combat Disorders/diagnosis/diagnostic imaging/physiopathology
MH  - Emotions/*physiology
MH  - Fear/physiology
MH  - Galvanic Skin Response/physiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Life Change Events
MH  - Limbic System/*blood supply/diagnostic imaging
MH  - Male
MH  - Memory/physiology
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Photic Stimulation
MH  - *Positron-Emission Tomography
MH  - Prefrontal Cortex/*blood supply/diagnostic imaging
MH  - Regional Blood Flow/physiology
MH  - Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging/physiopathology
MH  - Visual Perception/*physiology
EDAT- 2006/02/08 09:00
MHDA- 2006/02/17 09:00
CRDT- 2006/02/08 09:00
PHST- 2006/02/08 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2006/02/17 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/02/08 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 63/2/184 [pii]
AID - 10.1001/archpsyc.63.2.184 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006 Feb;63(2):184-92. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.63.2.184.