Hyeonseok Jeong1, Shinwon Park2, Stephen R Dager3, Soo Mee Lim4, Suji L Lee2, Haejin Hong2, Jiyoung Ma5, Eunji Ha2, Young Sun Hong6, Ilhyang Kang5, Eun Hee Lee7, Sujung Yoon8, Jieun E Kim9, Jungyoon Kim10, In Kyoon Lyoo11. 1. Research Assistant Professor,Department of Radiology,Incheon St. Mary's Hospital,College of Medicine,The Catholic University of Korea,South Korea. 2. Ewha Brain Institute and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 3. Professor,Department of Radiology and Department of Bioengineering,University of Washington,US. 4. Professor,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Radiology,Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 5. Postdoctoral Fellow,Ewha Brain Institute, Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 6. Professor,Department of Internal Medicine,School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 7. President,Department of Laboratory Medicine,Green Cross Laboratories,South Korea. 8. Professor,Ewha Brain Institute and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 9. Associate Professor,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences,Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 10. Assistant Professor,Ewha Brain Institute and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences,Ewha Womans University,South Korea. 11. Director,Ewha Brain Institute and Professor,Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences,Ewha Womans University,South Korea and Department of Psychiatry,University of Utah,US.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Firefighters are routinely exposed to various traumatic events and often experience a range of trauma-related symptoms. Although these repeated traumatic exposures rarely progress to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, firefighters are still considered to be a vulnerable population with regard to trauma.AimsTo investigate how the human brain responds to or compensates for the repeated experience of traumatic stress. METHOD: We included 98 healthy firefighters with repeated traumatic experiences but without any diagnosis of mental illness and 98 non-firefighter healthy individuals without any history of trauma. Functional connectivity within the fear circuitry, which consists of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, amygdala, hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), was examined using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Trauma-related symptoms were evaluated using the Impact of Event Scale - Revised. RESULTS: The firefighter group had greater functional connectivity between the insula and several regions of the fear circuitry including the bilateral amygdalae, bilateral hippocampi and vmPFC as compared with healthy individuals. In the firefighter group, stronger insula-amygdala connectivity was associated with greater severity of trauma-related symptoms (β = 0.36, P = 0.005), whereas higher insula-vmPFC connectivity was related to milder symptoms in response to repeated trauma (β = -0.28, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest an active involvement of insular functional connectivity in response to repeated traumatic stress. Functional connectivity of the insula in relation to the amygdala and vmPFC may be potential pathways that underlie the risk for and resilience to repeated traumatic stress, respectively.Declaration of interestNone.
BACKGROUND: Firefighters are routinely exposed to various traumatic events and often experience a range of trauma-related symptoms. Although these repeated traumatic exposures rarely progress to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, firefighters are still considered to be a vulnerable population with regard to trauma.AimsTo investigate how the human brain responds to or compensates for the repeated experience of traumatic stress. METHOD: We included 98 healthy firefighters with repeated traumatic experiences but without any diagnosis of mental illness and 98 non-firefighter healthy individuals without any history of trauma. Functional connectivity within the fear circuitry, which consists of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, amygdala, hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), was examined using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Trauma-related symptoms were evaluated using the Impact of Event Scale - Revised. RESULTS: The firefighter group had greater functional connectivity between the insula and several regions of the fear circuitry including the bilateral amygdalae, bilateral hippocampi and vmPFC as compared with healthy individuals. In the firefighter group, stronger insula-amygdala connectivity was associated with greater severity of trauma-related symptoms (β = 0.36, P = 0.005), whereas higher insula-vmPFC connectivity was related to milder symptoms in response to repeated trauma (β = -0.28, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest an active involvement of insular functional connectivity in response to repeated traumatic stress. Functional connectivity of the insula in relation to the amygdala and vmPFC may be potential pathways that underlie the risk for and resilience to repeated traumatic stress, respectively.Declaration of interestNone.
Entities:
Keywords:
Firefighter; fear network; functional connectivity; functional magnetic resonance imaging; post-traumatic stress disorder
Authors: E Kate Webb; Carissa N Weis; Ashley A Huggins; Jacklynn M Fitzgerald; Kenneth Bennett; Claire M Bird; Elizabeth A Parisi; Maddy Kallenbach; Tara Miskovich; Jessica Krukowski; Terri A deRoon-Cassini; Christine L Larson Journal: Neurobiol Stress Date: 2021-08-21
Authors: Andrew A Nicholson; Tomas Ros; Maria Densmore; Paul A Frewen; Richard W J Neufeld; Jean Théberge; Rakesh Jetly; Ruth A Lanius Journal: Neuroimage Clin Date: 2020-11-05 Impact factor: 4.881