Dataset Information

Reversed patterns of resting state functional connectivity for females vs. males in posttraumatic stress disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is twice as prevalent among females as compared to males following potentially traumatic events. While there is evidence for aberrant functional connectivity between hubs of the central executive network (CEN), salience network (SN), and the default mode network (DMN) in PTSD, little is known regarding sex-specificity of this connectivity. The current study aims to directly examine sex-specific resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in trauma exposed males and females, with and without PTSD.

Methods

One hundred and seventy-eight individuals underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at rest, of them 85 females (45 with PTSD) and 93 males (57 with PTSD). We conducted whole-brain seed-based analysis using CEN (lateral prefrontal cortex [lPFC]), SN (anterior cingulate cortex [ACC], insula, amygdala [AMG]), and DMN (medial prefrontal cortex [mPFC], posterior parietal cortex [PCC], and hippocampus [HIP]) hubs as seed regions. Group-by-Sex ANOVA was conducted.

Results

The amygdala-precuneus, ACC-precuneus, and hippocampus-precuneus pathways exhibited significant group-by-sex interaction effects, with females with PTSD consistently differing in connectivity patterns from males with PTSD and from trauma-exposed healthy females.

Conclusions

Sex-specific neural connectivity patterns were found within and between key nodes of the CEN, DMN, and the SN, suggesting opposite patterns of connectivity in PTSD and trauma-exposed controls as a function of sex as a biological variable (SABV). This may point to mechanistic sex differences in adaptation following trauma and may inform differential neural targets for treatment of females and males with PTSD.

SUBMITTER: Helpman L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8433283 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundPrefrontal subregions, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsomedial PFC, and dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), are differentially implicated in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though few existing studies have examined subregional differences in resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC). We hypothesized that PTSD would involve weaker positive rsFC between ventromedial PFC, dorsomedial PFC, and other default mode network regions and increased negative rsFC between DLPFC and posterior default mode network regions. Additionally, we hypothesized that prefrontal regions exhibiting group differences in rsFC would be characterized by alterations in cortical thickness.MethodsParticipants included 36 healthy control subjects, 30 trauma-exposed control subjects, and 21 individuals with current DSM-IV PTSD resulting from community-acquired trauma. Participants completed the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, questionnaires (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Adverse Childhood Events, Life Events Checklist, Beck Depression Inventory), structural neuroimaging, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. rsFC of DLPFC, ventromedial PFC, and dorsomedial PFC seeds was evaluated in SPM12 and CONN. Cortical thickness for regions with significant rsFC findings was assessed using FreeSurfer.ResultsRelative to both healthy control and trauma-exposed control subjects, individuals with PTSD showed increased negative rsFC between the DLPFC and a region of precuneus. This finding was associated with increased overall symptom severity but not with trauma load or childhood trauma exposure. Greater negative DLPFC-precuneus connectivity was associated with greater bilateral precuneus thickness.ConclusionsGiven participation of precuneus subregions in the central executive network, increased anticorrelation between right DLPFC and precuneus in this sample may reflect increased opposition between anterior and posterior central executive network hubs in PTSD.