Reduced cerebellar left hemisphere and vermal volume in adults with PTSD from a community sample

Baldaçara, Leonardo; Jackowski, Andrea Parolin; Schoedl, Aline Ferri; Pupo, Mariana; Andreoli, Sérgio Baxter; Mello, Marcelo Feijó de; Lacerda, Acioly L.T.; Mari, Jair J.; Bressan, Rodrigo A.

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.07.013

Cited by 69 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Animal experiments show an enlargement of Purkinje cell spines in response to corticotropin-releasing factor [64]. The involvement of the cerebellum in stress is also indicated by reports about a reduction in the cerebellar volume in patients with PTSD [65]–[67]. Thus, although there have not been any comparable previous studies showing stress- related increases in the functional connectivity between the amygdala and cerebellum, one may speculate that, in our burnout population, a compensatory enhancement of the modulatory pathway from the cerebellum could have occurred due to weakened amygdala–mPFC connectivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Influence of Work-Related Chronic Stress on the Regulation of Emotion and on Functional Connectivity in the Brain

et al. 2014

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Despite mounting reports about the negative effects of chronic occupational stress on cognitive and emotional functions, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Recent findings from structural MRI raise the question whether this condition could be associated with a functional uncoupling of the limbic networks and an impaired modulation of emotional stress. To address this, 40 subjects suffering from burnout symptoms attributed to chronic occupational stress and 70 controls were investigated using resting state functional MRI. The participants' ability to up- regulate, down-regulate, and maintain emotion was evaluated by recording their acoustic startle response while viewing neutral and negatively loaded images. Functional connectivity was calculated from amygdala seed regions, using explorative linear correlation analysis. Stressed subjects were less capable of down-regulating negative emotion, but had normal acoustic startle responses when asked to up-regulate or maintain emotion and when no regulation was required. The functional connectivity between the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex correlated with the ability to down-regulate negative emotion. This connectivity was significantly weaker in the burnout group, as was the amygdala connectivity with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex, whereas connectivity from the amygdala to the cerebellum and the insular cortex were stronger. In subjects suffering from chronic occupational stress, the functional couplings within the emotion- and stress-processing limbic networks seem to be altered, and associated with a reduced ability to down-regulate the response to emotional stress, providing a biological substrate for a further facilitation of the stress condition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Influence of Work-Related Chronic Stress on the Regulation of Emotion and on Functional Connectivity in the Brain

et al. 2014

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“…Recent findings suggest a major involvement of cerebellar structures in emotional behaviour, 63 which is mediated by reciprocal connections to structures of the limbic system. 64 Reduced vermal volume has already been reported in patients with bipolar disorder and PTSD, 65,66 suggesting an involvement in the pathology of psychiatric disorders. Schraa-Tam J Psychiatry Neurosci 2013;38(2) and colleagues 67 found prominent activation of the vermis while healthy participants viewed negative facial expressions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Morphometric differences in central stress-regulating structures between women with and without borderline personality disorder

Kuhlmann

Bertsch

Schmidinger

et al. 2013

J Psychiatry Neurosci

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IntroductionPsychosocial stress plays an important role in the development and manifestation of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Early life stress and traumatization are risk factors for BPD, and reports of traumatic childhood abuse are frequent in patients with BPD.1 Furthermore, patients with BPD ex peri ence psychosocial daily hassles more intensely than healthy individuals, indicating a reactivity and vulnerability to stress.2 Kuo and Linehan 3 measured higher skin conductance response in patients with BPD, which is positively correlated with stress. Moreover, the acute symptoms of patients with BPD are precipitated by acute stress. They show higher dissoci ative symptom scores than subjective stress ratings in comparison to healthy individuals and patients with major depressive and panic disorders. 4 Furthermore, high dissociation scores in patients with BPD correlate with greater childhood trauma and greater hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress, 5 indicating a link between traumatic childhood experiences, endocrine stress response and acute symptoms. Under subjective stress, patients with BPD display a higher pain threshold, 6 and self-injurious behaviour is used as a means of stress reduction.7 It seems plausible that these stress-related symptoms may be linked to dysregulations in the functioning of the HPA axis, which is crucially involved in the body's response to stress. Correspondingly, patients with BPD show signs of abnormal cortisol reactivity and feedback regulation, indicating disturbed HPA axis functioning, although findings on baseline cortisol, HPA feedback sensitivity and cortisol responses to psychosocial stress in Background: Experiences of early life stress, increased psychological arousal and the body's physiologic stress response seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis and maintenance of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In the present study, we investigated alterations in grey matter of central stress-regulating structures in female patients with BPD. Methods: We examined T 1 -weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging scans of unmedicated, right-handed female patients with BPD (according to DSM-IV criteria) and healthy controls matched for age, intelligence and education using fully automated DARTEL voxel-based morphometry. Our regions of interest analyses included the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hypothalamus. Results: We enrolled 30 patients and 33 controls in our study. The grey matter of patients with BPD was reduced in the hippocampus, but increased in the hypothalamus compared with healthy participants. Hypothalamic volume correlated positively with the history of traumatization in patients with BPD. No significant alterations were found in the amygdala and ACC. Limitations: This study is limited by the lack of measures of corticotropin-releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol levels. Furthermore, moderate sample size and comorbid disorders need to be considered. Conclusion: Our ...

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“…Higher EAL scores were associated with increased connectivity of the THAL, aINS, pINS, ACC, cerebellum, and MTG with the cerebellar network and decreased connectivity of caudate with the cerebellar network in male IBS but not HC males with no relationship demonstrated in female subjects. The cerebellar network is involved in fear perception, motor function and visual-motor learning (64, 65). More recently the cerebellar network has been identified as being central to both physical pain (66) and psychological pain (67), and abnormalities in cerebellar network connectivity have been reported in various disorders, including substance abuse (68, 69), and major depression (70, 71).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent meta-analysis has shown that trauma related alterations in the connectivity between the THAL, cerebellum, INS and cingulate regions within the cerebellar network may play an important role in sensorimotor integration (64, 65, 72). Thus, the observation of greater connectivity within the cerebellar network with increasing EALs in IBS males may suggest a role of EALs in altering sensorimotor integration in IBS males.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Adverse Life Events and Resting State Neural Networks in Patients With Chronic Abdominal Pain

Gupta

Kilpatrick

Labus

et al. 2014

Psychosomatic Medicine

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Background Early adverse life (EAL) events and sex have been identified as vulnerability factors for the development of several stress-sensitive disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We aimed to identify disease and sex-based differences in resting state (RS) connectivity associated with EALs in individuals with IBS. Method A history of EALs before age 18 was assessed using the early trauma inventory. RS functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify patterns of intrinsic brain oscillations in the form of RS networks in 168 people (58 IBS, 28 females; and 110 healthy controls, 72 females). Partial Least Squares, a multivariate analysis technique was used to identify disease and sex differences and possible correlations between EALs and functional connectivity in six identified RS networks. Results Associations between EALs and RS networks were observed. While a history of EALs was associated with altered connectivity in the salience/executive control network to a similar extent in male and female IBS patients (Bootstrap ratio [BSR]=3.28-5.61; p=.046), male IBS patients demonstrated additional EAL-related alterations in the cerebellar network (BSR=3.92-6.79; p=.022). Conclusion This cross sectional study identified correlations between RS networks and EALs in individuals with IBS. These results suggest that exposure to EALs before age 18 can shape adult RS in both male and female patients in the salience/executive control network, a brain network that has been implicated in the pathophysiology of central pain amplification.

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Reduced cerebellar left hemisphere and vermal volume in adults with PTSD from a community sample

Cited by 69 publications

References 58 publications

The Influence of Work-Related Chronic Stress on the Regulation of Emotion and on Functional Connectivity in the Brain

The Influence of Work-Related Chronic Stress on the Regulation of Emotion and on Functional Connectivity in the Brain

Morphometric differences in central stress-regulating structures between women with and without borderline personality disorder

Early Adverse Life Events and Resting State Neural Networks in Patients With Chronic Abdominal Pain

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