Exaggerated amygdala activation to ambiguous facial expressions is a familial vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Previous research has reported hyperresponsivity in the amygdala and hyporesponsivity in ventral portions of the medial prefrontal cortex to threat-related stimuli in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Whether such findings generalize to more ambiguous stimuli and whether such brain activation abnormalities reflect familial vulnerabilities, trauma-exposure, or acquired characteristics of PTSD remain unclear. In this study, we measured brain responses to emotionally ambiguous stimuli (i.e., surprised facial expressions) in identical twin pairs discordant for trauma exposure to elucidate the origin of brain activation abnormalities.

Methods

Participants with PTSD (n = 12) and their trauma-unexposed identical cotwins (n = 12), as well as trauma-exposed participants

SUBMITTER: Hinojosa CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9742331 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature