The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and functionally linked neurocircuitry modulate emotion processing and HPA axis dysfunction in posttraumatic stress disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) plays an important role in rodent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but evidence to support its relevance to human PTSD is limited. We sought to understand the role of the BNST in human PTSD via fMRI, behavioral, and physiological measurements.

Methods

29 patients with PTSD (childhood sexual abuse) and 23 healthy controls (HC) underwent BOLD imaging with an emotional word paradigm. Symptom severity was assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale and HPA-axis dysfunction was assessed by measuring the diurnal cortisol amplitude index (DCAI). A data-driven multivariate analysis was used to determine BNST task-based functional co-occurrence (tbFC) across individuals.

Results

In the trauma-versus-neutra

SUBMITTER: Awasthi S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7569227 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature