A longitudinal resting-state functional connectivity analysis on trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress symptoms in older individuals

Background: Given the present demographic shift towards an aging society, there is an increased need to investigate the brain’s functional connectivity in the context of aging. Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are factors known to impact healthy aging and have been...

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書目詳細資料
發表在:NeuroImage: Clinical
Main Authors: Carla M. Eising, Andreas Maercker, Brigitta Malagurski, Lutz Jäncke, Susan Mérillat
格式: Article
語言:英语
出版: Elsevier 2022-01-01
主題:
在線閱讀:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158222001176
實物特徵
總結:Background: Given the present demographic shift towards an aging society, there is an increased need to investigate the brain’s functional connectivity in the context of aging. Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are factors known to impact healthy aging and have been reported to be associated with functional connectivity differences. In the present study, we examined and compared differences in within-Default Mode Network (DMN), within-Salience Network (SN) and between DMN-SN functional connectivity, between trauma-exposed individuals with and without PTSD symptoms as well as non-traumatized individuals in a non-clininical older adult sample. METHODS: Resting state functional MRI and behavioral data is taken from the Longitudinal Healthy Aging Brain Database Project (LHAB). For the present analysis, participants who completed the questionnaires on trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms (N = 110 individuals of which n = 50 individuals reported previous trauma exposure and n = 25 individuals reported PTSD symptoms; mean age = 70.55 years, SD = 4.82) were included. RESULTS: The reporting of PTSD symptoms relative to no symptoms was associated with lower within-DMN connectivity, while on a trend level trauma-exposed individuals showed higher within-SN connectivity compared to non-trauma exposed individuals. Consistent with existing models of healthy aging, between DMN-SN functional connectivity showed an increase across time in older age. CONCLUSION: Present results suggest that alterations in within-DMN and within-SN functional connectivity also occur in non-treatment seeking older adult populations with trauma exposure and in association with PTSD symptoms. These changes manifest, alongside altered between DMN-SN functional connectivity, in older age supposedly independent of aging-related functional desegregation.
ISSN:2213-1582