Voxel-based morphometry-diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated lie algebra algorithm evaluation of brain structural of recent-onset pediatric post-traumatic stress disorder patients

Abstract

Objective To compare brain structure differences between recent-onset pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients and trauma-exposed controls without PTSD (TEC) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM)-diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated lie algebra (DARTEL) algorithm, and evaluate the relationship between volume of altered brain areas and symptom severity. Methods High-resolution 3-dimensional T1WI images were obtained from 28 first-episode treatment-naive pediatric PTSD patients group and 26 age and gender-matched TEC group within 7-15 months after a major earthquake. With the General Linear Model (GLM), gray matter volume (GMV) was compared between the two groups using VBM-DARTEL algorithm of SPM8 software running in MatLab 2012b. The statistical map cluster level had a threshold of P 113). In regions with significant group differences, the relationships between volumes of altered structures and clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS) and PTSD checklist (PCL) scores in patients were evaluated with age as covariates. Results Compared to TEC, pediatric PTSD patients showed GMV reduction in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), precuneus, supplementary motor area (SMA), and bilateral cerebellum (voxel size=230, 118, 134, 298, 325, P<0.005). Correlation analyses showed that GMV of the left precuneus and SMA were positively correlated with CAPS scores in PTSD patients group, respectively (r=0.402, P=0.037; r=0.41, P=0.034). In addition, gray matter volume of the left SMA was positively correlated with PCL scores in PTSD group (r=0.383, P=0.049). Conclusions The characteristics of brain in recent-onset pediatric PTSD patients are mainly atrophy in some gray matter regions compared with TEC. Gray matter reduction in cerebellum may be the unique structural feature in pediatric PTSD. Key words: Stress disorders, post-traumatic; Magnetic resonance imaging; Brain