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Cited by 58Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchTraumatic Brain Injury ResearchMemory and Neural Mechanisms

The Association of PTSD Symptom Severity With Localized Hippocampus and Amygdala Abnormalities

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Akiki, Teddy J., Averill, Christopher L., Wrocklage, Kristen M., Schweinsburg, Brian, Scott, J. Cobb, Martini, Brenda, Averill, Lynnette A., Southwick, Steven M. +2 more·2017·Chronic Stress
DOI 10.1177/2470547017724069PMC PMC5562232
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Abstract

Background: The hippocampus and amygdala have been repeatedly implicated in the psychopathology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While numerous structural neuroimaging studies examined these two structures in PTSD, these analyses have largely been limited to volumetric measures. Recent advances in vertex-based neuroimaging methods have made it possible to identify specific locations of subtle morphometric changes within a structure of interest. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to examine the relationship between PTSD symptomatology, as measured using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for the DSM-IV, and structural shape of the hippocampus and amygdala using vertex-wise shape analyses in a group of combat-exposed U.S. Veterans (N = 69). Results: Following correction for multiple comparisons and controlling for age and cranial volume, we found that participants with more severe PTSD symptoms showed an indentation in the anterior half of the right hippocampus and an indentation in the dorsal region of the right amygdala (corresponding to the centromedial amygdala). Post hoc analysis using stepwise regression suggest that among PTSD symptom clusters, arousal symptoms explain most of the variance in the hippocampal abnormality, whereas reexperiencing symptoms explain most of the variance in the amygdala abnormality. Conclusion: The results provide evidence of localized abnormalities in the anterior hippocampus and centromedial amygdala in combat-exposed U.S. Veterans suffering from PTSD symptoms. This novel finding provides a more fine-grained analysis of structural abnormalities in PTSD and may be informative for understanding the neurobiology of the disorder.

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  • Akiki et al. (2017) showed that participants with more severe PTSD symptoms had an indentation in the dorsal region of the right amygdala corresponding to the centromedial amygdala.

    “Akiki et al. (2017) applied a highresolution MRI and showed that participants with more severe PTSD symptoms showed an indentation in the dorsal region of the right amygdala (corresponding to the centromedial amygdala).”

    From Neuroimaging research in posttraumatic stress disorder – Focus on amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (2019) · cites this paper as Akiki et al. (2017)

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Authors
Akiki, T. J., Averill, C. L., Wrocklage, K. M., Schweinsburg, B., Scott, J. C., Martini, B., Averill, L. A., Southwick, S. M., Krystal, J. H., & Abdallah, C. G.
Affiliations
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs (US)
  • Philadelphia VA Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Abdallah, Chadi G.
ORCID
Venue
Chronic Stress
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2017-02
Volume
1
ISSN
2470-5470 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/2470547017724069
PMC
PMC5562232
OpenAlex
W2743633490
Cited by
58
References
17
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 3
FWCI
10.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Chronic Stress (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  • National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
  • National Institutes of Health (5k23mh101498-05)
  • Genentech
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH-101498()
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
post-traumatic stress disorder, hippocampus, amygdala, centromedial amygdala, combat veterans, PTSD symptom severity, arousal symptoms, re-experiencing symptoms, structural neuroimaging

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