Brain activity in response to trauma-specific, negative, and neutral stimuli: A fMRI study of recent road traffic accident survivors

Most neuroimaging studies of trauma-exposed individuals have been conducted long after the traumatic event, leaving the acute neural response largely uncharacterised. This study examined brain activity patterns in response to trauma reminders and to neutral and negative stimuli in individuals within 3 weeks of a road traffic accident (RTA). Twenty-three RTA survivors and 17 non-exposed healthy controls underwent fMRI while viewing trauma-specific, negative, and neutral images. Analyses focused on bilateral amygdala, subcallosal cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex, supplemented by whole-brain and functional connectivity analyses.

For both groups, negative stimuli elicited stronger bilateral amygdala responses than neutral or trauma-specific stimuli. Whole-brain analyses revealed greater activation in sensory processing areas (bilateral occipital and temporal cortices, thalamus) and frontal and superior parietal regions in the RTA group for trauma-specific relative to neutral stimuli. Functional connectivity analyses showed elevated amygdala–somatosensory coupling for trauma-specific stimuli in the RTA group. These findings suggest an attentional sensory processing bias toward trauma-related material shortly after trauma exposure, consistent with early-stage PTSD mechanisms.

This paper represents the culmination of a project that began in 2012, and was one of the first major contributions to emerge from the lab work conducted during and after the master’s degree.

Contributions: Responsible for analysis and manuscript; co-responsible for acquisition and interpretation.

Recommended citation: Nilsen, A. S., Blix, I., Leknes, S., Ekeberg, Ø., Skogstad, L., Endestad, T., & Heir, T. (2016). Brain activity in response to trauma-specific, negative, and neutral stimuli: A fMRI study of recent road traffic accident survivors. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1173.
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