Summary of main findings in PTSD imaging along with the contrast agents used for the studya.
| Technique | Contrast agent | Main findings | Sample size (n) | References | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure | Change | Brain region | ||||
| SPECT | HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Right hemisphere | 47 | 136 |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↓ | Medial frontal gyrus | 30 | 137 | |
| rCBF | ↑ | Right cuneus | 30 | 137 | ||
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Cerebellum | |||
| ↓ | Right precentral, superior temporal, and fusiform gyri | 38 | 138 | |||
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Left hemisphere | 16 | 139 | |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Prefrontal cortex | 24 | 140 | |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Left amygdala, left nucleus accumbens | 28 | 141 | |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↓ | Superior frontal cortex, right caudate | 31 | 142 | |
| [123I] Iomazenil | BZR | = | No difference in BZR levels between control and PTSD patient groups | 38 | 143 | |
| [123I] Iomazenil | BZR | ↓ | Prefrontal cortex | 26 | 144 | |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Hippocampus, parahippocampus, amygdala | |||
| rCBF | ↓ | Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) | 69 | 145 | ||
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Bilateral AC/PC, right temporal and parietal, right caudate/putamen, and left orbital and hippocampal | 25 | 146 | |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Limbic | 87 | 145,147 | |
| HMPAO | rCBF | ↑ | Right superior parietal lobe | 38 | 148 | |
| rCBF | ↓ | Right thalamus | 38 | 148 | ||
| PET | [15O] H2O | rCBF | ↓ | mPFC/ACC | ||
| = | Amygdala | 29 | 149 | |||
| [O15] CO2 | rCBF | ↑ | Hippocampus, amygdala | 16 | 150 | |
| [15O] H2O | rCBF | ↓ | Hippocampus, mPFC/ACC, mPFC/OFC | 21 | 151 | |
| [15O] H2O | rCBF | ↓ | Hippocampus, mPFC/OFC | 22 | 152 | |
| 15Q-Butanol | rCBF | ↑ | Parahippocampus, amygdala | |||
| rCBF | ↓ | mPFC/ACC | 13 | 153 | ||
| [15O] H2O | rCBF | ↑ | Parahippocampus | 22 | ||
| rCBF | ↓ | mPFC/ACC | 154 | |||
| [15O] H2O | rCBF | ↓ | Hippocampus, mPFC/ACC, mPFC/OFC | |||
| rCBF | ↑ | Parahippocampus | 20 | 155 | ||
| [15O] CO2 | rCBF | ↑ | Parahippocampus, mPFC/OFC | |||
| rCBF | ↓ | mPFC/ACC | 16 | 156 | ||
| [15O] CO2 | rCBF | ↑ | Amygdala | 14 | 157 | |
| [18F] FDG | GMB | ↓ | Hippocampus, mPFC/OFC | |||
| = | Parahippocampus, amygdala, mPFC/ACC | 20 | 44 | |||
| [15O] H2O | rCBF | = | mPFC/ACC | 16 | 158 | |
| [15O] H2O | rCBF | ↑ | mPFC/OFC | 13 | 159 | |
| fMRI | BOLD | ↑ | Amygdala | |||
| ↓ | mPFC/ACC | 26 | 160 | |||
| BOLD | ↑ | Amygdala | 32 | 161 | ||
| BOLD | ↑ | Parahippocampus | ||||
| ↓ | mPFC/ACC | |||||
| = | Amygdala | 11 | 162 | |||
| BOLD | ↑ | Parahippocampus, amygdala | ||||
| ↓ | mPFC/OFC | 12 | 163 | |||
| BOLD | ↓ | Thalamus | 24 | 164 | ||
| BOLD | ↑ | Amygdala | 21 | 165 | ||
| BOLD | ↓ | Parahippocampus, thalamus, mPFC/ACC | 20 | 166 | ||
| BOLD | ↓ | Parahippocampus | ||||
| ↑ | mPFC/ACC | |||||
| = | Thalamus | 17 | 167 | |||
| BOLD | ↓ | Hippocampus, parahippocampus | ||||
| ↑ | Thalamus, mPFC/ACC | 16 | 160 | |||
| BOLD | ↓ | mPFC/ACC, mPFC/OFC, thalamus | ||||
| = | Amygdala | 18 | 168 | |||
| BOLD | ↑ | Amygdala | ||||
| = | mPFC/ACC | 16 | 169 | |||
a
HMPAO: 99mTc hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime; rCBF: regional cerebral blood flow; BZR: benzodiazepine receptors; AC: anterior cingulate; PC: posterior cingulate; mPFC/ACC: medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulated cortex; OFC: orbitofrontal cortex; FDG: fluorodeoxyglucose; GMB: glucose metabolism; BOLD: blood oxygen level-dependent signal; = : no change in activity; ↑: increase in activity; ↓: decrease in activity.