Structural inequities contribute to racial/ethnic differences in neurophysiological tone, but not threat reactivity, after trauma exposure

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nathaniel G. Harnett, Harvard University; Negar Fani, Emory University; Sierra Carter, Georgia State University; Leon D. Sanchez, Harvard University; Grace E. Rowland, McLean Hospital; William M. Davie, Wayne State University; camilo Guzman, Wayne State University; Lauren A.M. Lebois, Harvard University; Tim Ely, Emory University; Sanne van Rooij, Emory University; Antonia V. Seligowski, Harvard University; Sterling Winters, Wayne State University; Lana R. Grasser, Wayne State University; Paul I. Musey Jr., Indiana University, Indianapolis; Mark J. Seamon, University of Pennsylvania; Stacey L. House, Washington University, St. Louis; Francesca L. Beaudoin, Brown University; Xinming An, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Donglin Zeng, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Thomas C. Neylan, University of California, San Francisco; Gari D. Clifford, Emory University; Sara D. Linnstaedt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Laura T. Germine, Harvard University; Kenneth A. Bollen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Scott L. Rauch, Harvard University; John P. Haran, University of Massachusetts, Worcester; Alan B. Storrow, Vanderbilt University; Christopher Lewandowski, Henry Ford Health System; Phyllis L. Hendry, University of Florida, Jacksonville; Sophia Sheikh, University of Florida, Jacksonville; Christopher W. Jones, Rowan University; Brittany E. Punches, Ohio State University; Robert A. Swor, Oakland University; Lauren A. Hudak, Emory University; Jose L. Pascual, University of Pennsylvania; Erica Harris, Einstein Medical Center; Anna M. Chang, Jefferson University; Claire Pearson, Wayne State University; David A. Peak, Massachusetts General Hospital; Roland C. Merchant, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Robert M. Domeier, Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital; Niels K. Rathlev, University of Massachusetts, Springfield; Steven E. Bruce, University of Missouri, St. Louis; Mark W. Miller, Boston University; Robert H. Pietrzak, Yale University; Jutta Joormann, Yale University; Deanna M. Barch, Washington University in St. Louis; Diego A. Pizzagalli, Harvard University; Steven E. Harte, University of Michigan; James M. Elliott, University of Sydney; Ronald C. Kessler, Harvard University; Karestan C. Koenen, Harvard University; Samuel A. McLean, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Tanja Jovanovic, Wayne State University; Jennifer Stevens, Emory University; Kerry Ressler, Harvard University
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-02-01
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2023, The Author(s)
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-023-01971-x
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Molecular Psychiatry
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 7
• Start Page: 2975
• End Page: 2984
• Grant/Funding Information: This project was supported by NIMH under K00MH119603, U01MH110925, the US Army MRMC, One Mind, and The Mayday Fund.
• Keywords: Psychiatric disorders; Neuroscience; Prognostic markers; Psychology
• Research Categories: Psychology, Cognitive; Health Sciences, Public Health; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

Considerable racial/ethnic disparities persist in exposure to life stressors and socioeconomic resources that can directly affect threat neurocircuitry, particularly the amygdala, that partially mediates susceptibility to adverse posttraumatic outcomes. Limited work to date, however, has investigated potential racial/ethnic variability in amygdala reactivity or connectivity that may in turn be related to outcomes such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants from the AURORA study (n = 283), a multisite longitudinal study of trauma outcomes, completed functional magnetic resonance imaging and psychophysiology within approximately two-weeks of trauma exposure. Seed-based amygdala connectivity and amygdala reactivity during passive viewing of fearful and neutral faces were assessed during fMRI. Physiological activity was assessed during Pavlovian threat conditioning. Participants also reported the severity of posttraumatic symptoms 3 and 6 months after trauma. Black individuals showed lower baseline skin conductance levels and startle compared to White individuals, but no differences were observed in physiological reactions to threat. Further, Hispanic and Black participants showed greater amygdala connectivity to regions including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and cerebellum compared to White participants. No differences were observed in amygdala reactivity to threat. Amygdala connectivity was associated with 3-month PTSD symptoms, but the associations differed by racial/ethnic group and were partly driven by group differences in structural inequities. The present findings suggest variability in tonic neurophysiological arousal in the early aftermath of trauma between racial/ethnic groups, driven by structural inequality, impacts neural processes that mediate susceptibility to later PTSD symptoms.