PTSD REMISSION AFTER PROLONGED EXPOSURE TREATMENT IS ASSOCIATED WITH ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX THINNING AND VOLUME REDUCTION.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Brain structures underlying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been a focus of imaging studies, but associations between treatment outcome and alterations in brain structures remain largely unexamined. We longitudinally examined the relation of structural changes in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), a previously identified key region in the PTSD fear network, to outcome of prolonged exposure (PE) treatment.

Method

The sample included 78 adults (53 women): 41 patients with PTSD and 37 trauma-exposed healthy volunteers (TE-HCs). Patients underwent a 10-week course of PE treatment and completed pre- and posttreatment assessments and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) structural scans. TE-HCs also underwent assessment and MRI at baseline and 10 weeks

SUBMITTER: Helpman L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4846556 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature