TY - JOUR
T1 - High-field MRI reveals an acute impact on brain function in survivors of the magnitude 8.0 earthquake in China
AU - Lui, Su
AU - Huang, Xiaoqi
AU - Chen, Long
AU - Tang, Hehan
AU - Zhang, Tijiang
AU - Li, Xiuli
AU - Li, Dongming
AU - Kuang, Weihong
AU - Chan, Raymond C.
AU - Mechelli, Andrea
AU - Sweeney, John A.
AU - Gong, Qiyong
PY - 2009/9/8
Y1 - 2009/9/8
N2 - Besides the enormous medical and economic consequences, national disasters, such as the Wenchuan 8.0 earthquake, also pose a risk to the mental health of survivors. In this context, a better understanding is needed of how functional brain systems adapt to severe emotional stress. Previous animal studies have demonstrated the importance of limbic, paralimbic, striatal, and prefrontal structures in stress and fear responses. Human studies, which have focused primarily on patients with clinically established posttraumatic stress disorders, have reported abnormalities in similar brain structures. At present, little is known about potential alterations of brain function in trauma survivors shortly after traumatic events. Here, we show alteration of brain function in a cohort of healthy survivors within 25 days after the Wenchuan earthquake by a recently discovered method known as "restingstate" functional MRI. The current investigation demonstrates that regional activity in frontolimbic and striatal areas increased significantly and connectivity among limbic and striatal networks was attenuated in our participants who had recently experienced severe emotional trauma. Trauma victims also had a reduced temporal synchronization within the "default mode" of resting-state brain function, which has been characterized in humans and other species. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that significant alterations in brain function, similar in many ways to those observed in posttraumatic stress disorders, can be seen shortly after major traumatic experiences, highlighting the need for early evaluation and intervention for trauma survivors.
AB - Besides the enormous medical and economic consequences, national disasters, such as the Wenchuan 8.0 earthquake, also pose a risk to the mental health of survivors. In this context, a better understanding is needed of how functional brain systems adapt to severe emotional stress. Previous animal studies have demonstrated the importance of limbic, paralimbic, striatal, and prefrontal structures in stress and fear responses. Human studies, which have focused primarily on patients with clinically established posttraumatic stress disorders, have reported abnormalities in similar brain structures. At present, little is known about potential alterations of brain function in trauma survivors shortly after traumatic events. Here, we show alteration of brain function in a cohort of healthy survivors within 25 days after the Wenchuan earthquake by a recently discovered method known as "restingstate" functional MRI. The current investigation demonstrates that regional activity in frontolimbic and striatal areas increased significantly and connectivity among limbic and striatal networks was attenuated in our participants who had recently experienced severe emotional trauma. Trauma victims also had a reduced temporal synchronization within the "default mode" of resting-state brain function, which has been characterized in humans and other species. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that significant alterations in brain function, similar in many ways to those observed in posttraumatic stress disorders, can be seen shortly after major traumatic experiences, highlighting the need for early evaluation and intervention for trauma survivors.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Depression
KW - Neuroimaging
KW - Posttraumatic stress disorder
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70349315559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=70349315559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0812751106
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0812751106
M3 - Article
C2 - 19720989
AN - SCOPUS:70349315559
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 106
SP - 15412
EP - 15417
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 36
ER -