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Author Notes:

J.D. Bremner, Dept of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 12 Executive Park Dr NE, USA. Email: jdbremn@emory.edu

The following authors assisted with the design and execution of the research described in the article: J.D.B., J.G., V.V. The following authors were involved in obtaining funding for the research: J.D.B., V.V. The following authors were involved in analysis of the data in the research: J.D.B., M.H., F.A.C., O.N., A.A., M.B., A.N., J.G., V.V. The following authors drafted the initial article: J.D.B. The following authors created the figures in the article: J.D.B., V.V. The following authors added critical revisions to the article: J.D.B., M.H., F.A.C., O.N., A.A., M.B., A.N., J.G., V.V.

The authors would like to thank Mary Ellen Vitek, Birute Curran, the Hines IL and VA Puget Sound Healthcare System and Vietnam Era Twin Registry, for assistance in performing these studies.

This research was supported by a Veterans Administration (VA) Merit Review Grant, a VA Research Career Development Award, K24 MH076955 and R01MH56120 to Dr. Bremner. None of the authors have any other financial or other conflict to disclose, including direct or indirect financial or personal relationships, interests, and affiliations relevant to the subject matter of the manuscript, or that are expected in the foreseeable future, including, but is not limited to, grants or funding, employment, affiliations, patents (in preparation, filed, or granted), inventions, honoraria, consultancies, royalties, stock options/ownership, or expert testimony.

Subjects:

Research Funding:

This study was supported by a VA Merit Review Grant, a VA Career Development Award to Dr. Bremner, and R01MH56120 to Dr Bremner.

Keywords:

  • Science & Technology
  • Life Sciences & Biomedicine
  • Psychiatry
  • MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-SPECTROSCOPY
  • CHILDHOOD SEXUAL-ABUSE
  • ERA TWIN REGISTRY
  • VERBAL DECLARATIVE MEMORY
  • N-ACETYL ASPARTATE
  • GRAY-MATTER VOLUME
  • SHORT-TERM-MEMORY
  • COMBAT VETERANS
  • PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
  • COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE

The environment contributes more than genetics to smaller hippocampal volume in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Tools:

Journal Title:

JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH

Volume:

Volume 137

Publisher:

, Pages 579-588

Type of Work:

Article | Post-print: After Peer Review

Abstract:

Background: Studies using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volumetrics showed smaller hippocampal volume in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These studies were cross-sectional and did not address whether smaller volume is secondary to stress-induced damage, or whether pre-existing factors account for the findings. The purpose of this study was to use a co-twin case control design to assess the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to hippocampal volume in PTSD. Methods: Monozygotic (N = 13 pairs) and dizygotic (N = 21 pairs) twins with a history of Vietnam Era military service, where one brother went to Vietnam and developed PTSD, while his brother did not go to Vietnam or develop PTSD, underwent MR imaging of the brain. Structural MRI scans were used to manually outline the left and right hippocampus on multiple coronal slices, add the areas and adjust for slice thickness to determine hippocampal volume. Results: Twins with Vietnam combat-related PTSD had a mean 11% smaller right hippocampal volume in comparison to their twin brothers without combat exposure or PTSD (p < .05). There was no significant interaction by zygosity, suggesting that this was not a predisposing risk factor or genetic effect. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with smaller hippocampal volume in PTSD, and suggest that the effects are primarily due to environmental effects such as the stress of combat.

Copyright information:

This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/rdf).
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