Table 1.

Neuroimaging and cognitive studies.

Reference	Sample	Psychological Assessment	Biological Parameters	Main Findings
Ochsner, 2002 [26]	15 right-handed female subjects; age range = 18–30 years	Subjects were asked to increase, maintain, or decrease their emotional response to negative pictures	The brain activity was evaluated with fRMI	The cognitive reappraisal of highly negative photographs resulted in a reduction in the subjective experience of negative affect, in an increasing activation of the brain activity in the lateral and medial PFC and in a decreasing activation in the medial orbito-frontal cortex and in the amygdala.
Rabe, 2006 [27]	82 survivors (F = 55; M = 30) of MVAs; mean age = 41.54 ±13.19;	PTGI; PANAS; CAPS	The brain activity was measured using resting EEG	The total score on the PTGI resulted significantly and positively correlated with the frontocentral EEG alpha asymmetry and this correlation was not significantly altered when controlling for T-PA score. The spiritual changes domain was the only one not correlated with the relative left frontocentral activity.
Eren-Koçak, 2014 [25]	53 survivors (F = 37; M = 16; mean age = 36.7 ± 13.4) of ’99 Marmara Earthquakes, enrolled 3 and 4 years after	TSSC; BDI; PTGI	AVLT, ROCFT, the Color Trail Making Test, the Short Category Test, the Stroop test and the Verbal Fluency Test	The personal growth domain was significatively positively correlated with higher performance in visual recall, better verbal fluency performance in human names, and less errors in short category test.
Fujisawa, 2015 [28]	33 right-handed, healthy volunteers (F = 21, M = 12); mean age = 21.9 ± 5.7 years;	Subjects were asked to choose a stressful or traumatic life event experienced in a list of 10 different “low magnitude” events; PTGI; IES-R; BDI	The basal whole-brain functional connectivity was measured using resting-state fMRI and eight areas, corresponding to different functional networks of the brain, were selected.	The PTGI scores were significantly and positively correlated with brain activation in the rostral PFC (corresponding with a more positive functional alterations in the prospective memory) and in the superior parietal lobule within the left CEN (corresponding with a beneficial effects in the working memory). The PTGI scores were significantly and positively correlated with a stronger connectivity between the SPL seed and the SMG.
Ander, 2015 [29]	299 U.S. veterans including 193 controls (M = 182 (mean age = 59.69 ± 13.36 years; F = 11, mean age = 41.38 ± 15.42 years) and 106 veterans diagnosed with PTSD M = 96, mean age = 52.84 ± 15.09 years; F = 10 mean age = 42.48 ± 11.51 years)	CAPS; SCID; DRRI; PTGI	The SNIs, consisting in two levels defined GSNI and LSNI, were identified as markers of the brain activity and were detected through MEG.	There was a significant difference in the total score on DRRI between the control and the PTSD veterans. In the control veterans: -there was more growth per trauma than PTSD veterans; -the total score on the PTGI was significantly and negatively associated with the GSNIs in both hemispheres; -the highest decreases of SNIs with the increase of PTGI score were reported between the left and right parts of the mPFC, while the reduction of parieto-occipital cortex SNIs with PTGI score increase was more evident in the left than in the right hemisphere.
Nakagawa, 2016 [30]	26 students who experienced the 2011 East Japan Great Earthquake (M = 21, F = 5)	PTGI; CES-D; STAI T-A subscale; RAPM; CAPS; M.I.N.I.	The voxel-based morphometry was used to evaluate the variation of rGMV in the DLPFC.	The PTG total and relating to others domain scores were positively associated with an increased rGMV in the right DLPFC after the disaster. The students with lower PTGI relating to others scores reported a reduced rGMV in the DLPFC. The CAPS total score was significantly, but negatively, correlated with the peak of the statistically significant delta-rGMV in the right DLPFC.
Wei et al. 2017 [31]	90 people who were in the central and surrounding areas of the container 2015 explosions at the Port on Tianjin (M = 53, F = 37; mean age = 28.58 ± 6.52 years)	Presentation of negative, neutral and positive pictures correlated with PTG; PCL-C; PTGI	HRV activation of the DLPFC	Concerning HRV: -showing positive images, the low frequency and high frequency component of HRV was significantly higher in PTG group than in control and PTSD group, but no difference was showed between PTSD group and control group; -no differences were reported among the three groups for the presentation of neutral or negative stimuli. Concerning the DLPFC activation: -oxygenated hemoglobin level of left DLPFC was higher in PTG group than in the control group in response to negative pictures, while there was no difference with respect to the PTSD group; -in response to positive pictures, oxygenated hemoglobin level of right DLPFC was higher in PTSD group than in the control group, while there was no difference with the PTG group.

PTGI: Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory; PANAS: Positive and Negative Affect Scale; CAPS: Clinician Administered PTSD Scale; TSSC: Traumatic Stress Symptom Checklist; BDI: Beck Depression Inventory; Auditory Verbal Learning Test; ROCFT: Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure Test; IES-R: Impact of Event Scale—Revised; DRRI: Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory; STAI: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; RAPM: Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrox; PCL-C: PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version.