Journal
NEUROREPORT
Volume 23, Issue 7, Pages 412-419Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e328352025e
Keywords
functional magnetic resonance imaging; lateral occipital complex; occipital cortex; post-traumatic stress disorder
Categories
Funding
- Department of Defense [W81XWH-05-2-0094]
- Mental Illness Research and Education Clinical Center of the US Veterans Health Administration
- Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California
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Although there is evidence for strong connectivity between the amygdala and the visual cortex and some evidence for reduced occipital lobe gray matter volume in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), few studies have directly examined the effects of PTSD on occipital function. The current study used functional and structural MRI to examine occipital cortex function and structure in male combat veterans with and without PTSD. Left occipital gray matter volume was reduced in PTSD patients relative to the controls and correlated negatively with the severity of PTSD symptoms. Functional activity in the lateral occipital complex to aversive and nonaversive pictures presented in novel and repeated presentations was not altered by PTSD. These findings suggest that PTSD adversely affects occipital lobe volume but not the reactivity of the lateral occipital complex to generally aversive, trauma nonspecific stimuli. NeuroReport 23:412-419 (C) 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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