Using structural neuroanatomy to identify trauma survivors with and without post-traumatic stress disorder at the individual level.

ABSTRACT:

Background

At present there are no objective, biological markers that can be used to reliably identify individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study assessed the diagnostic potential of structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) for identifying trauma-exposed individuals with and without PTSD.

Method

sMRI scans were acquired from 50 survivors of the Sichuan earthquake of 2008 who had developed PTSD, 50 survivors who had not developed PTSD and 40 healthy controls who had not been exposed to the earthquake. Support vector machine (SVM), a multivariate pattern recognition technique, was used to develop an algorithm that distinguished between the three groups at an individual level. The accuracy of the algorithm and its statistical significance were estima

SUBMITTER: Gong Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3854554 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature