Original articleDecreased Anterior Cingulate Volume in Combat-Related PTSD
Section snippets
Recruitment and Screening
Subjects provided written informed consent in accordance with procedures of the Institutional Review Boards of either Stanford University Medical School/VA Palo Alto Healthcare System or Boston VA Medical Center and the McLean Hospital. Subjects were recruited through a combination of advertising and word-of-mouth contacts with current and past patients and research volunteers. Initial screening established that subjects were US military veterans of the Vietnam Conflict or the Persian Gulf War
Results
The ACC was larger in the right hemisphere while the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was larger on the left [interaction of hemisphere and anterior-posterior dimension: F(1,91) = 25.6, p < .001]. There was no main effect of hemisphere and no interaction between hemisphere and any grouping factor. The ACC [F(1,91) = 11.7, p = .001] but not the PCC [F(1,91) = .056, n.s.] was smaller in subjects diagnosed with PTSD [interaction of PTSD and anterior-posterior factor: F(1,91) = 5.28, p = .024; see
Discussion
This analysis of 99 combat veterans confirmed and extended previous findings. Anterior cingulate cortex volume was observed to be smaller in persons with combat-related PTSD whether or not they were diagnosed with lifetime alcoholism or belonged to one of two military/aging cohorts. Statistical adjustment for body size did not modify the results. We did not find that the effect of PTSD was limited to pregenual ACC. Our data suggested instead that dorsal ACC, often associated with more cognitive
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