Decreased uncinate fasciculus tract integrity in male and female patients with PTSD: a diffusion tensor imaging study
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Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling psychiatric disorder that has been associated with lower white matter integrity of tracts connecting the prefrontal cortex with limbic regions. However, previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) findings have been inconsistent, showing high variability in the exact location and direction of effects. Methods: We performed probabilistic tractography of the bilateral uncinate fasciculus, cingulum and superior longitudinal fasciculus (both temporal and parietal projections) in male and female police officers with and without PTSD. Results: We included 38 (21 men) police officers with and 39 (20 men) without PTSD in our analyses. Compared with trauma-exposed controls, patients with PTSD showed significantly higher mean diffusivity of the right uncinate fasciculus, the major white matter tract connecting the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex ( p = 0.012). No other significant between-group or group × sex differences were observed. Mean diffusivity of the right uncinate fasciculus was positively associated with anxiety symptoms ( r = 0.410, p = 0.013) in patients with PTSD as well as with amygdala activity ( r = 0.247, p = 0.038) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activity ( r = 0.283, p = 0.016) in all participants in response to happy and neutral faces. Limitations: Our specific sample of trauma-exposed police officers limits the generalizability of our findings to other PTSD patient groups (e.g., civilian trauma). Conclusion: Patients with PTSD showed diminished structural connectivity between the amygdala and vmPFC, which was correlated with higher anxiety symptoms and increased functional activity of these brain regions. Our findings provide additional evidence for the prevailing neurocircuitry model of PTSD, postulating that ineffective communication between the amygdala and vmPFC underlies decreased top–down control over fear responses.
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Koch et al. used DTI to show decreased integrity of the uncinate fasciculus tract, connecting the vmPFC to multiple subcortical limbic regions including the amygdala, in patients with PTSD.
“Koch et al. [155] used DTI to show decreased integrity of the uncinate fasciculus tract, connecting the vmPFC to multiple subcortical, limbic regions including the amygdala, in patients with PTSD.”
From Prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and threat processing: implications for PTSD (2022) · cites this paper as [155]
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- Authors
- Koch, S. B. J., van Zuiden, M., Nawijn, L., Frijling, J. L., Veltman, D. J., & Olff, M.
- Affiliations
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- From the Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Venue
- Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Canadian Science Publishing
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 331-342
- ISSN
- 1180-4882 (ISSN-L)
- 1488-2434
- PMC
- PMC5573575
- OpenAlex
- W2749712468
- Cited by
- 80
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 9.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- ZonMw (40‐00812‐98‐10041, 110614, 00812)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, uncinate fasciculus, white matter integrity, amygdala, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anxiety symptoms, sex differences, police officers, structural connectivity, cingulum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, probabilistic tractography
- MeSH terms
- Facial Recognition, Administration, Intranasal, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neural Pathways, Neuropsychological Tests, Oxytocin, Psychotropic Drugs, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Police, Cross-Over Studies, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Workplace Violence, White Matter
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