Trauma exposure relates to heightened stress, altered amygdala morphology and deficient extinction learning: Implications for psychopathology

Highlights • We investigated amygdala morphology in healthy trauma-exposed individuals compared to unexposed controls. • People with previous trauma exposure displayed volume increase in the left lateral amygdala compared to unexposed controls. • Trauma-exposed individuals showed enhanced fear condi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017-02, Vol.76, p.19-28
Main Authors: Cacciaglia, Raffaele, Nees, Frauke, Grimm, Oliver, Ridder, Stephanie, Pohlack, Sebastian T, Diener, Slawomira J, Liebscher, Claudia, Flor, Herta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Amygdala
Amygdala - diagnostic imaging
Amygdala - pathology
Conditioning, Classical - physiology
Depression
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Extinction learning
Extinction, Psychological - physiology
Fear - physiology
Fear conditioning
Female
Humans
Hydrocortisone - metabolism
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Psychiatry
Psychological Trauma - complications
Saliva - chemistry
Stress
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - metabolism
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - pathology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - physiopathology
Trauma
Young Adult
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Summary:Highlights • We investigated amygdala morphology in healthy trauma-exposed individuals compared to unexposed controls. • People with previous trauma exposure displayed volume increase in the left lateral amygdala compared to unexposed controls. • Trauma-exposed individuals showed enhanced fear conditioning and deficient extinction, compared to healthy controls. • Compared to unexposed controls, traumatized people showed salivary cortisol hypo-suppression to dexamethasone. • We show multiform alterations in traumatized people which resemble symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
ISSN:0306-4530
1873-3360
DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.11.012