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Exaggerated activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during cognitive interference: a monozygotic twin study of posttraumatic stress disorder.

ABSTRACT: Neuroimaging studies have revealed functional abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this study was to determine whether hyperresponsivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate in PTSD is an acquired characteristic or a familial risk factor.Using a case-control twin design, the authors studied combat-exposed veterans with PTSD (N=12) and their identical combat-unexposed co-twins (N=12), as well as combat-exposed veterans without PTSD (N=14) and their identical combat-unexposed co-twins (N=14). Participants underwent functional MRI during completion of the Multi-Source Interference Task, which reliably activates the dorsal anterior cingulate.Combat-exposed veterans with PTSD and their unexposed co-twins had significantly greater activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate and tended to have larger response time difference scores, as compared to combat-exposed veterans without PTSD and their co-twins. Dorsal anterior cingulate activation in the exposed twins was positively correlated with their PTSD symptom severity. Dorsal anterior cingulate activation in the unexposed twins was positively correlated with their combat-exposed co-twins' PTSD symptom severity, but not with depression or alcohol use severity in the combat-exposed co-twins.Hyperresponsivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate appears to be a familial risk factor for the development of PTSD following psychological trauma.

SUBMITTER: Shin LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3773363 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exaggerated activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during cognitive interference: a monozygotic twin study of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Shin Lisa M LM Bush George G Milad Mohammed R MR Lasko Natasha B NB Brohawn Kathryn Handwerger KH Hughes Katherine C KC Macklin Michael L ML Gold Andrea L AL Karpf Rachel D RD Orr Scott P SP Rauch Scott L SL Pitman Roger K RK

The American journal of psychiatry 20110701 9

<h4>Objective</h4>Neuroimaging studies have revealed functional abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this study was to determine whether hyperresponsivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate in PTSD is an acquired characteristic or a familial risk factor.<h4>Method</h4>Using a case-control twin design, the authors studied combat-exposed veterans with PTSD (N=12) and their identical combat-unexposed co-twins (N=12), as well as combat-exp ...[more]

PMID: 21724666

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Project description:Cigarette smoking has a major impact on global health and morbidity, and positron emission tomographic research has provided evidence for reduced inflammation in the human brain associated with cigarette smoking. Given the consequences of inflammatory dysfunction for health, the question of whether cigarette smoking affects neuroinflammation warrants further investigation. The goal of this project therefore was to validate and extend evidence of hypoinflammation related to smoking, and to examine the potential contribution of inflammation to clinical features of smoking. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we measured levels of neurometabolites that are putative neuroinflammatory markers. N-acetyl compounds (N-acetylaspartate + N-acetylaspartylglutamate), glutamate, creatine, choline-compounds (phosphocholine + glycerophosphocholine), and myo-inositol, have all been linked to neuroinflammation, but they have not been examined as such with respect to smoking. We tested whether people who smoke cigarettes have brain levels of these metabolites consistent with decreased neuroinflammation, and whether clinical features of smoking are associated with levels of these metabolites. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was chosen as the region-of-interest because of previous evidence linking it to smoking and related states. Fifty-four adults who smoked daily maintained overnight smoking abstinence before testing and were compared with 37 nonsmoking participants. Among the smoking participants, we tested for associations of metabolite levels with tobacco dependence, smoking history, craving, and withdrawal. Levels of N-acetyl compounds and glutamate were higher, whereas levels of creatine and choline compounds were lower in the smoking group as compared with the nonsmoking group. In the smoking group, glutamate and creatine levels correlated negatively with tobacco dependence, and creatine correlated negatively with lifetime smoking, but none of the metabolite levels correlated with craving or withdrawal. The findings indicate a link between smoking and a hypoinflammatory state in the brain, specifically in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Smoking may thereby increase vulnerability to infection and brain injury.

Dataset Information

Exaggerated activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during cognitive interference: a monozygotic twin study of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Publications

Exaggerated activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during cognitive interference: a monozygotic twin study of posttraumatic stress disorder.

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