Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry; Veterans / Ex-Servicemen
Article Date: 06 Nov 2012 - 1:00 PST
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Link Discovered Between PTSD And Smaller Brain Area Regulating Fear Response
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Recent combat veterans who are diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder have significantly smaller volume in an area of the brain critical for regulating fear and anxiety responses, according to research led by scientists at Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center.
The finding, published Nov. 5, 2012, in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, for the first time provides clear evidence that smaller amygdala volume is associated with PTSD, regardless of the severity of trauma. But it's not clear whether the physiological difference was caused by a traumatic event, or whether PTSD develops more readily in people who naturally have smaller amygdalas.
"Researchers found 20 years ago that there were changes in volume of the hippocampus associated with PTSD, but the amygdala is more relevant to the disorder," said Rajendra A. Morey, M.D., M.S., assistant professor at Duke and lead author of the study. Morey said studies in animals have established the amygdala's role in regulating fear, anxiety and stress responses, but its effect on human behavior is less well known.
"It's associated with how fear is processed, especially abnormal fear processing." Morey said. "So it makes sense to look at the structure of the amygdala."
The researchers enrolled 200 combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001; half had PTSD and the other half had been exposed to trauma, but had not developed PTSD. Amygdala and hippocampus volumes were computed from MRI scans of all the participants.
The researchers found significant evidence that PTSD among study participants was associated with smaller volume in both the left and right amygdala, and confirmed previous studies linking the disorder to a smaller left hippocampus. The differences in brain volumes between the two groups were not due to the extent of depression, substance abuse, trauma load or PTSD severity - factors the researchers took into account in their statistical model.
The finding provides new insight into a condition that strikes nearly 14 percent of combat veterans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. PTSD is also estimated to afflict 6.8 percent of adults in the general population who have suffered abuse, crimes and other traumas over their lifetimes.
"The next step is to try to figure out whether a smaller amygdala is the consequence of a trauma, or a vulnerability that makes people get PTSD," Morey said.
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Funding for the study was from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health.
Duke University Medical Center
MLA
n.p. "Link Discovered Between PTSD And Smaller Brain Area Regulating Fear Response." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 6 Nov. 2012. Web.
6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/252405.php>
APA
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/252405.php.
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'Link Discovered Between PTSD And Smaller Brain Area Regulating Fear Response'
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