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. 2012 Aug 30;28(5):541–549. doi: 10.1007/s12264-012-1261-3

Altered regional homogeneity in post-traumatic stress disorder: a restingstate functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Yan Yin 1,2, Changfeng Jin 1, Lisa T Eyler 4,5, Hua Jin 4,6, Xiaolei Hu 1,7, Lian Duan 1, Huirong Zheng 8, Bo Feng 9, Xuanyin Huang 10, Baoci Shan 11, Qiyong Gong 12, Lingjiang Li 1,3,✉
PMCID: PMC5561913  PMID: 22961475

Abstract

Objective

Little is known about the brain systems that contribute to vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Comparison of the resting-state patterns of intrinsic functional synchronization, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), between groups with and without PTSD following a traumatic event can help identify the neural mechanisms of the disorder and targets for intervention.

Methods

Fifty-four PTSD patients and 72 matched traumatized subjects who experienced the 2008 Sichuan earthquake were imaged with blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI and analyzed using the measure of regional homogeneity (ReHo) during the resting state.

Results

PTSD patients presented enhanced ReHo in the left inferior parietal lobule and right superior frontal gyrus, and reduced ReHo in the right middle temporal gyrus and lingual gyrus, relative to traumatized individuals without PTSD.

Conclusion

Our findings showed that abnormal brain activity exists under resting conditions in PTSD patients who had been exposed to a major earthquake. Alterations in the local functional connectivity of cortical regions are likely to contribute to the neural mechanisms underlying PTSD.

Keywords: functional magnetic resonance imaging, post-traumatic stress disorder, regional homogeneity, resting-state

Footnotes

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12264-012-1293-8.

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