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A number of studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report thinner cerebral cortical gyri using gyrus-based analysis or thinner foci within the gyri using vertex-based analysis. However, the locations of these findings are inconsistent across studies, and the spatial transformations required during vertex-based analysis may affect the focal findings. A mega-analysis using a large number of subjects from multiple PTSD studies could potentially identify more reproducible cortical thickness abnormalities. Investigating both the vertex and gyral thicknesses simultaneously may verify the vertex-based focal findings using gyral data without imposing any spatial transformation. Here we aggregated data from 24 international laboratories using ENIGMA standardized procedures for 949 adult PTSD patients and 1493 controls without PTSD (age 18 to 65 years). We examined whether gyral and vertex cortical thickness are (a) different between subjects with PTSD and controls and (b) associated with PTSD symptom severity in trauma-exposed subjects. Regions with overlapping thinner cortical gyri and thinner vertex clusters were located in frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices. Thinner right lateral orbitofrontal and right lingual gyri and concomitantly thinner vertex clusters in the anterior portions of both gyri were associated with PTSD symptom severity. Convergent findings in these locations suggest focally thinner cortex in these gyri, which may be involved in altered processing and regulation of emotion and sensory inputs underlying posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report volume abnormalities in multiple regions of the cerebral cortex. However, findings for many regions, particularly regions outside commonly studied emotion-related prefrontal, insular, and limbic regions, are inconsistent and tentative. Also, few studies address the possibility that PTSD abnormalities may be confounded by comorbid depression. A mega-analysis investigating all cortical regions in a large sample of PTSD and control subjects can potentially provide new insight into these issues. Given this perspective, our group aggregated regional volumes data of 68 cortical regions across both hemispheres from 1379 PTSD patients to 2192 controls without PTSD after data were processed by 32 international laboratories using ENIGMA standardized procedures. We examined whether regional cortical volumes were different in PTSD vs. controls, were associated with posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) severity, or were affected by comorbid depression. Volumes of left and right lateral orbitofrontal gyri (LOFG), left superior temporal gyrus, and right insular, lingual and superior parietal gyri were significantly smaller, on average, in PTSD patients than controls (standardized coefficients = −0.111 to −0.068, FDR corrected P values < 0.039) and were significantly negatively correlated with PTSS severity. After adjusting for depression symptoms, the PTSD findings in left and right LOFG remained significant. These findings indicate that cortical volumes in PTSD patients are smaller in prefrontal regulatory regions, as well as in broader emotion and sensory processing cortical regions.

IntroductionCortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) are established biomarkers of brain pathology in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Structural covariance networks (SCN) constructed from CT and SA may represent developmental associations, or unique interactions between brain regions, possibly influenced by a common causal antecedent. The ENIGMA-PGC PTSD Working Group aggregated PTSD and control subjects’ data from 29 cohorts in five countries (n=3439).MethodsUsing Destrieux Atlas, we built SCNs and compared centrality measures between PTSD subjects and controls. Centrality is a graph theory measure derived using SCN.ResultsNotable nodes with higher CT-based centrality in PTSD compared to controls were left fusiform gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, and right inferior temporal gyrus. We found sex-based centrality differences in bilateral frontal lobe regions, left anterior cingulate, left superior occipital cortex and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Comorbid PTSD and MDD showed higher CT-based centrality in the right anterior cingulate gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus and lower SA-based centrality in left insular gyrus.ConclusionUnlike previous studies with smaller sample sizes (≤318), our study found differences in centrality measures using a sample size of 3439 subjects. This is the first cross-sectional study to examine SCN interactions with age, sex, and comorbid MDD. Although limited to group level inferences, centrality measures offer insights into a node’s relationship to the entire functional connectome unlike approaches like seed-based connectivity or independent component analysis. Nodes having higher centrality have greater structural or functional connections, lending them invaluable for translational treatments like neuromodulation.

BackgroundProblems with impulsive aggression occur in many forms of psychiatric dysfunction, and are a common complaint among combat veterans. The present study sought to examine the neuroanatomical correlates of combat-related impulsive aggression.MethodsT1-weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired from 29 male veterans with impulsive aggression and 30 non-aggressive combat controls. Subcortical volumetry was conducted with the amygdala and hippocampus and their main constituent subdivisions as regions-of-interest (ROIs) (basolateral, centromedial amygdala; head, body, tail of hippocampus). Cortical thickness measurements were extracted for the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex. Within-group correlations with psychometric measures were also explored.ResultsNo significant group differences in cortical thickness or subcortical grey matter volumes were observed for any of the ROIs. Also, no significant correlations with any of the psychometric measures were recorded. Exploratory whole-brain analysis of cortical thickness revealed a significant group × anxiety interaction effect in a cluster located in the left lingual gyrus.ConclusionsThe current findings indicate that problems with impulsive aggression may not be directly associated with alterations in cortical thickness or amygdalar/hippocampal (sub)volumes. The observed interplay between impulsive aggression problems and anxiety-related symptoms is consistent with prior work showing the two phenomena may share the same underlying (neural) mechanisms.

Impulsive aggression is common among military personnel after deployment and may arise because of impaired top-down regulation of the amygdala by prefrontal regions. This study sought to further explore this hypothesis via resting-state functional connectivity analyses in impulsively aggressive combat veterans. Male combat veterans with (n = 28) and without (n = 30) impulsive aggression problems underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Functional connectivity analyses were conducted with the following seed-regions: basolateral amygdala (BLA), centromedial amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and anterior insular cortex (AIC). Regions-of-interest analyses focused on the orbitofrontal cortex and periaqueductal gray, and yielded no significant results. In exploratory cluster analyses, we observed reduced functional connectivity between the (bilateral) BLA and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the impulsive aggression group, relative to combat controls. This finding indicates that combat-related impulsive aggression may be marked by weakened functional connectivity between the amygdala and prefrontal regions, already in the absence of explicit emotional stimuli. Group differences in functional connectivity were also observed between the (bilateral) ACC and left cuneus, which may be related to heightened vigilance to potentially threatening visual cues, as well as between the left AIC and right temporal pole, possibly related to negative memory association in impulsive aggression.

BackgroundPTSD and depression commonly co-occur and have been associated with smaller hippocampal volumes compared to healthy and trauma-exposed controls. However, the hippocampus is heterogeneous, with subregions that may be uniquely affected in individuals with PTSD and depression.MethodsWe used random effects regressions and a harmonized neuroimaging protocol based on FreeSurfer (v6.0) to identify sub-structural hippocampal markers of current PTSD (C-PTSD), depression, and the interaction of these conditions across 31 cohorts worldwide (N=3,115;Mage=38.9±13.9 years). Secondary analyses tested these associations by sex and after modeling the simultaneous effects of remitted PTSD, childhood trauma, mild traumatic brain injury, and alcohol use disorder.ResultsA significant negative main effect of depression (n=800, vs. no depression, n=1456) was observed in the hippocampal tail (ß=−0.13) and CA1 (ß=−0.09) after adjusting for covariates and multiple testing (adjusted p’s (q)=0.028). A main effect of C-PTSD (n=1042 vs. control, n=1359) was not significant, but an interaction between C-PTSD and depression was significant in the CA1 (ß=−0.24, q=0.044). Pairwise comparisons revealed significantly smaller CA1 volumes in individuals with C-PTSD+Depression than controls (ß=−0.12, q=0.012), C-PTSD-only (ß=−0.17, q=0.001), and Depression-only (ß=−0.18, q=0.023). Follow-up analyses revealed sex effects in the hippocampal tail of depressed females, and an interaction effect of C-PTSD and depression in the fimbria of males.ConclusionsCollectively our results suggest that depression is a stronger predictor of hippocampal volumetry than PTSD, particularly in the CA1, and provide compelling evidence of more pronounced hippocampal phenotypes in comorbid PTSD and depression compared to either condition alone.

Background In this study, we examined whether early-life trauma, psychopathy, and the testosterone/cortisol ratio predicted impulsive aggression problems in veterans. Method A sample of 49 male veterans with impulsive aggression problems and 51 nonaggressive veterans were included in the study. Logistic regression analysis was performed with early-life trauma, primary and secondary psychopathy, and testosterone/cortisol ratio as continuous predictor variables; impulsive aggression status was entered as a binary outcome measure. Correlation analyses were conducted to examine pairwise relations among the predictors. Results Results indicated that early-life trauma and secondary psychopathy, but not the testosterone/cortisol ratio or primary psychopathy, were significant predictors of impulsive aggression status. Conclusions The current results indicate that early-life trauma and secondary psychopathy are risk factors for impulsive aggression problems among veterans. Future studies are needed to determine the exact causal relations among the variables examined here.