Cortical Complexity in World Trade Center Responders with Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bromet EJ ; Carr MA ; Clouston SAP ; Gandy SE ; Huang C ; Kotov R ; Kritikos M ; Lucchini RG ; Luft BJ ; Mejia-Santiago S ; Pellecchia AC
• Description:
  Approximately 23% of World Trade Center (WTC) responders are experiencing chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with their exposures at the WTC following the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, which has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for cognitive impairment raising concerns regarding their brain health. Cortical complexity, as measured by analyzing Fractal Dimension (FD) from T1 MRI brain images, has been reported to be reduced in a variety of psychiatric and neurological conditions. In this report, we hypothesized that FD would be also reduced in a case-control sample of 99 WTC responders as a result of WTC-related PTSD. The results of our surface-based morphometry cluster analysis found alterations in vertex clusters of complexity in WTC responders with PTSD, with marked reductions in regions within the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices, in addition to whole-brain absolute bilateral and unilateral complexity. Furthermore, region of interest analysis identified that the magnitude of changes in regional FD severity was associated with increased PTSD symptoms (reexperiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal, negative affect) severity. This study confirms prior findings on FD and psychiatric disorders and extends our understanding of FD associations with posttraumatic symptom severity. The complex and traumatic experiences that led to WTC-related PTSD were associated with reductions in cortical complexity. Future work is needed to determine whether reduced cortical complexity arose prior to, or concurrently with, onset of PTSD. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Nervous System Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Keywords:
  Brain Function Cognitive Function First Responders Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI Neuropathology Post-traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD Rescue Workers World Trade Center WTC

  More +
• ISSN:
  2158-3188
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064063
• Citation:
  Transl Psychiatry 2021 Nov; 11:597
• Contact Point Address:
  Sean A. P. Clouston, Program in Public Health and Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
• Email:
  sean.clouston@stonybrookmedicine.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20160901
• Source Full Name:
  Translational Psychiatry
• End Date:
  20200831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:88e19e857eb1ad1ab82a4a338ad84004bd08ffd9eb6f39d0df2805b25eee062d7a515bb96654d8abcc0e9c76d933aa381bcacf4edc519beae27a797f3df13ecd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222589/cdc_222589_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.14 MB ]