Functional Changes in Neural Mechanisms Underlying Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in World Trade Center Responders

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bromet EJ ; Clouston SA ; Curtin P ; Horton MK ; Invernizzi A ; Jalees M ; Lucchini RG ; Luft BJ ; Papazaharias DM ; Pellecchia AC ; Rechtman E ; Santiago-Michels S ; Tang CY
• Description:
  World Trade Center (WTC) responders exposed to traumatic and environmental stressors during rescue and recovery efforts have a high prevalence of chronic WTC-related post-traumatic stress disorder (WTC-PTSD). We investigated neural mechanisms underlying WTC-PTSD by applying eigenvector centrality (EC) metrics and data-driven methods on resting state functional magnetic resonance (fMRI). World Trade Center (WTC) responders exposed to traumatic and environmental stressors during rescue and recovery efforts have a high prevalence of chronic WTC-related post-traumatic stress disorder (WTC-PTSD). We investigated neural mechanisms underlying WTC-PTSD by applying eigenvector centrality (EC) metrics and data-driven methods on resting state functional magnetic resonance (fMRI). We identified how EC differences relate to WTC-exposure and behavioral symptoms. We found that connectivity differentiated significantly between WTC-PTSD and non-PTSD responders in nine brain regions, as these differences allowed an effective discrimination of PTSD and non-PTSD responders based solely on analysis of resting state data. Further, we found that WTC exposure duration (months on site) moderates the association between PTSD and EC values in two of the nine brain regions; the right anterior parahippocampal gyrus and the left amygdala (p = 0.010; p = 0.005, respectively, adjusted for multiple comparisons). Within WTC-PTSD, a dimensional measure of symptom severity was positively associated with EC values in the right anterior parahippocampal gyrus and brainstem. Functional neuroimaging can provide effective tools to identify neural correlates of diagnostic and dimensional indicators of PTSD. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Occupational Health Safety September 11 Terrorist Attacks Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
• Keywords:
  Brain Function First Responders Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI Post-traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD Rescue Measures Traumatic Incident Stress World Trade Center WTC
• ISSN:
  2158-3188
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  13
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067982
• Citation:
  Transl Psychiatry 2023 Jul; 13(1):239
• Contact Point Address:
  Azzurra Invernizzi, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
• Email:
  azzurra.invernizzi@mssm.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• 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-512:19a204bea2a9591680e03d304daa72d0b40c8e6eada246731d8f4be6f32611891cb5053fcd924c00919e8dfab1dd0c3008e680bf63f8e888702ba284a8ee49b6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230213/cdc_230213_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.16 MB ]