Anterior cingulate activity to salient stimuli is modulated by autonomic arousal in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Felmingham, Kim L.; Williams, Leanne M.; Kemp, Andrew H.; Rennie, Chris; Gordon, Evian; Bryant, Richard A.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.12.005

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 173, Issue 1 , Pages 59-62, 15 July 2009

Anterior cingulate activity to salient stimuli is modulated by autonomic arousal in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Kim L. Felmingham
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millenium Institute & Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Australia
- Corresponding author. The Brain Dynamics Centre, Acacia House, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 9845 8152; fax: +61 2 9845 8190.
Leanne M. Williams
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millenium Institute & Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Australia
Andrew H. Kemp
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millenium Institute & Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Australia
Chris Rennie
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millenium Institute & Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia
- School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
Evian Gordon
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millenium Institute & Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia
- Brain Resource International Database, Brain Resource Company, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia
Richard A. Bryant
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Millenium Institute & Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, NSW, 2145, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

Received 6 December 2007; received in revised form 21 December 2008; accepted 21 December 2008.

Abstract

Reduced ventral anterior cingulate (vACC) activity to threat is thought to reflect an impairment in regulating arousal networks in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and skin conductance response (SCR) recording were used to examine neural functioning when arousal networks are engaged. Eleven participants with PTSD and 11 age- and sex-matched non-traumatized controls performed an oddball task that required responding to salient, non-trauma-related auditory target tones embedded in lower frequency background tones. Averaged target-background analyses revealed significantly greater dorsal ACC, supramarginal gyrus, and hippocampal activity in PTSD relative to control participants.With-SCR target responses resulted in increased vACC activity in controls, and dorsal ACC activity in PTSD. PTSD participants had reduced vACC activity relative to controls to target tones when SCR responses were present. This reduction in vACC in PTSD relative to controls was not apparent in without-SCR responses. These findings suggest that a reduction in vACC in PTSD occurs specifically when arousal networks are engaged.

Keywords: Functional MRI, Skin conductance responses, Oddball, Anterior cingulate, PTSD, Arousal