PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Erin Falconer
AU  - Richard Bryant
AU  - Kim L. Felmingham
AU  - Andrew H. Kemp
AU  - Evian Gordon
AU  - Anthony Peduto
AU  - Gloria Olivieri
AU  - Leanne M. Williams
TI  - The neural networks of inhibitory control in posttraumatic stress disorder
DP  - 2008 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
PG  - 413--422
VI  - 33
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jpn.ca/content/33/5/413.short
4100  - http://jpn.ca/content/33/5/413.full
SO  - JPN2008 Sep 01; 33
AB  - Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves deficits in information processing that may reflect hypervigilence and deficient inhibitory control. To date, however, no PTSD neuroimaging study has directly examined PTSD-related changes in executive inhibition. Our objective was to investigate the hypothesis that executive inhibitory control networks are compromised in PTSD.Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used during a Go/No-Go inhibition task completed by a sample of patients with PTSD (n = 23), a matched sample of healthy (i.e. without trauma exposure) control participants (n = 23) and a sample of control participants with trauma exposure who did not meet criteria for PTSD (n = 17).Results: Participants with PTSD showed more inhibition-related errors than did individuals without trauma exposure. During inhibition, control participants activated a right-lateralized cortical inhibitory network, whereas patients with PTSD activated only the left lateral frontal cortex. PTSD was associated with a reduction in right cortical activation and increased activation of striatal and somatosensory regions.Conclusion: The increased inhibitory error and reduced right frontal cortical activation are consistent with compromised inhibitory control in PTSD, while the increased activation of brain regions associated with sensory processing and a greater demand on inhibitory control may reflect enhanced stimulus processing in PTSD, which may undermine cortical control mechanisms.