Keywords
Posttraumatic stress disorder, Cerebral atrophy, Magnetic resonance imaging, Hippocampus, Total brain volume.
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with decreased hippocampal volume, but the relationship between trauma and brain morphology in the absence of PTSD is less clear. In this study, measures of brain integrity were determined by estimating gray and white matter regional brain volumes using structural magnetic resonance imaging in six patients with PTSD and in five controls with comparable trauma exposure but without clinical evidence of PTSD. The only statistically significant volume difference between groups was observed multivariately in the white matter of the right temporal lobe (superior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, white-matter stem, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior temporal gyrus), although small sample sizes limit the power to detect between-group differences. Both groups showed heterogeneity in cerebral atrophy.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Brown, Bruce L.; Hedges, Dawson W.; Thatcher, G. William; Bennett, Pamela J.; Sood, Shabnam; Paulson, David; Creem-Regehr, Sarah; Allen, Steven; Johnson, Jamie; Froelich, Brooke; and Bigler, Erin D., "Brain Integrity and Cerebral Atrophy in Vietnam Combat Veterans with and without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (2007). Faculty Publications. 5976.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/5976
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2007
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/8705
Publisher
Psychology Press
Language
English
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Psychology