Neurophysiological Responses to Traumatic Reminders in the Acute Aftermath of Serious Motor Vehicle Collisions Using [15O]-H2O Positron Emission Tomography

Background Neuroimaging studies report that individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder show abnormal responses in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during exposure to traumatic reminders. However, neural responses arising in the early aftermath of a traumatic event have not been studied. Methods Twenty-two motor vehicle collision survivors and 12 nontraumatized control subjects participated. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured using [15O]-H2O positron emission tomography (PET) at rest and as subjects listened to scripts of traumatic and neutral events. Self-report measures rated emotional responses to the scripts; standardized assessments (Impact of Events—Revised) evaluated acute stress symptoms at scanning and at 3-month follow-up. Most subjects improved symptomatically. Results At rest, trauma subjects showed hyperperfusion in right mPFC/ACC and hypoperfusion in right amygdala compared with control subjects. In trauma subjects, listening to trauma scripts versus neutral scripts resulted in decreased flow in the right amygdala and left amygdala/perirhinal cortex, and symptom scores correlated negatively with right hippocampal flow changes. Symptom improvement at 3 months correlated negatively with rCBF changes in right perirhinal cortex and hippocampus during the trauma versus neutral script contrast. Subjective disturbance during the trauma versus neutral contrast correlated positively with rCBF changes in right amygdala and left mPFC. Functional connectivity analyses of rCBF changes during trauma versus neutral scripts demonstrated left amygdala coupling with right ACC and bilateral anterior insula, as well as coupling between the amygdala and contralateral hippocampus. Conclusions In recently traumatized subjects functional interactions between the amygdala, perirhinal cortex and ACC/mPFC that occur during exposure to traumatic reminders may underlie adaptive/recuperative processes