Cited by 94Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchFunctional Brain Connectivity StudiesPsychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

PTSD and its dissociative subtype through the lens of the insula: Anterior and posterior insula resting‐state functional connectivity and its predictive validity using machine learning

Harricharan, Sherain, Nicholson, Andrew A., Thome, Janine, Densmore, Maria, McKinnon, Margaret C., Théberge, Jean, Frewen, Paul A., Neufeld, Richard W. J. +1 more·2020·Psychophysiology

Abstract

Individuals with post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically experience states of reliving and hypervigilance; however, the dissociative subtype of PTSD (PTSD+DS) presents with additional symptoms of depersonalization and derealization. Although the insula is critical to emotion processing, its association with these contrasting symptom profiles is yet to be fully delineated. Accordingly, we investigated insula subregion resting‐state functional connectivity patterns among individuals with PTSD, PTSD+DS, and healthy controls. Using SPM12 and PRONTO software, we implemented a seed‐based resting‐state functional connectivity approach, along with multiclass Gaussian process classification machine learning, respectively, in order to evaluate unique patterns and the predictive validity of insula subregion connectivity among individuals with PTSD ( n = 84), PTSD+DS ( n = 49), and age‐matched healthy controls ( n = 51). As compared to PTSD and PTSD+DS, healthy controls showed increased right anterior and posterior insula connectivity with frontal lobe structures. By contrast, PTSD showed increased bilateral posterior insula connectivity with subcortical structures, including the periaqueductal gray. Strikingly, as compared to PTSD and controls, PTSD+DS showed increased bilateral anterior and posterior insula connectivity with posterior cortices, including the left lingual gyrus and the left precuneus. Moreover, machine learning analyses were able to classify PTSD, PTSD+DS, and controls using insula subregion connectivity patterns with 80.4% balanced accuracy ( p < .01). These findings suggest a neurobiological distinction between PTSD and its dissociative subtype with regard to insula subregion functional connectivity patterns. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms were able to utilize insula resting‐state connectivity patterns to discriminate between participant groups with high predictive accuracy.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/psyp.13472

Cites

107 of 107 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 109 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Harricharan, S., Nicholson, A. A., Thome, J., Densmore, M., McKinnon, M. C., Théberge, J., Frewen, P. A., Neufeld, R. W. J., & Lanius, R. A.
Affiliations
  • Western University (CA)
  • University of Vienna (AT)
  • Homewood Research Institute (CA)
Corresponding author
Lanius, Ruth A.
Venue
Psychophysiology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2019-09-10
Volume
57
Issue
1
Pages
e13472-e13472
ISSN
  • 0048-5772 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8986
OpenAlex
W2972984907
Cited by
94
References
109
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 1
FWCI
8.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychophysiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (137150, 97914)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
Keywords
post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative subtype of PTSD, insula, resting-state functional connectivity, anterior insula, posterior insula, periaqueductal gray, precuneus, lingual gyrus, seed-based functional connectivity, machine learning classification, predictive validity, depersonalization, derealization, frontal lobe connectivity, subcortical connectivity
MeSH terms
Machine Learning, Adult, Cerebral Cortex, Depersonalization, Dissociative Disorders, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Reproducibility of Results, Connectome

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review