Smaller hippocampal volume predicts pathologic vulnerability to psychological trauma

By M. Gilbertson, Martha Elizabeth Shenton, Aleksandra A. Ciszewski, K. Kasai, N. Lasko, Scott P. Orr, R. Pitman. Nature Neuroscience, 2002

1,594 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In animals, exposure to severe stress can damage the hippocampus. Recent human studies show smaller hippocampal volume in individuals with the stress-related psychiatric condition posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Does this represent the neurotoxic effect of trauma, or is smaller hippocampal volume a pre-existing condition that renders the brain more vulnerable to the development of pathological stress responses? In monozygotic twins discordant for trauma exposure, we found evidence that smaller hippocampi indeed constitute a risk factor for the development of stress-related psychopathology. Disorder severity in PTSD patients who were exposed to trauma was negatively correlated with the hippocampal volume of both the patients and the patients' trauma-unexposed identical co-twin. Furthermore, severe PTSD twin pairs—both the trauma-exposed and unexposed members—had significantly smaller hippocampi than non-PTSD pairs.

Subfields: Behavioral Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/292b48d7dcdc155abdf68f8a07c8c4464285d257

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Citations in the corpus

Childhood trauma associated with smaller hippocampal volume in women with major depression. (2002, background): “(70) observed smaller hippocampal volume both in non-combat-exposed and in combatexposed identical co-twins with PTSD and concluded that smaller hippocampi increase the vulnerability for developing PTSD in individuals exposed to trauma.”
TrkB regulates hippocampal neurogenesis and governs sensitivity to antidepressive treatment (2008, background): “Similarly, reduction of hippocampal volume has been reported in some studies of human patients with major depression (Bremner et al., 2000; MacQueen et al., 2003) and posttraumatic stress disorder (Gilbertson et al., 2002; Karl et al., 2006; Smith, 2005).”
Expressive Therapy with Severely Maltreated Children: Neuroscience Contributions (2005, background): “Although a preexisting, familial vulnerability seemed likely, there was a nonsignificant trend for this group to share higher rates of childhood abuse (Gilbertson et al., 2002).”
Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood (2005, background): “Intriguingly, however, lower hippocampal volume could also be observed in the PTSD subjects’ twin brothers – who never went to war – suggesting that the hippocampal volume might be a risk factor for, rather than a consequence of, developing PTSD (Gilbertson et al., 2002).”
A meta-analysis of structural brain abnormalities in PTSD. (2006, background): “PTSD severity has been positively correlated with hippocampal volume in some studies (Bremner et al., 2003a; Gilbertson et al., 2002; Gurvits et al., 1996; Winter and Irle, 2004) but not in others (Bonne et al.”
The Neurocircuitry of Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Disorders (2011, background): “Hippocampal volumes appear to be diminished in PTSD in some (Bossini et al, 2008; Bremner et al, 1995, 1997, 2003a; Gilbertson et al, 2002; Gurvits et al, 1996; Karl et al, 2006; Kitayama et al, 2005; Smith, 2005; Stein et al, 1997; Villarreal et al, 2002a; Wignall et al, 2004; Winter and Irle,…”
The psychobiology of neglect. (2005, neutral): “(Gilbertson et al., 2002).”
The psychobiology of maltreatment in childhood (2006, background): “In addition, decreases in the size of the hippocampus in children may not be evident during imaging procedures at this early developmental time point, as it may be an inherent vulnerability for chronic PTSD that persists into adulthood (Gilbertson et al., 2002).”
Neural Mechanisms of Extinction Learning and Retrieval (2008, background): “The hippocampus also shows decreased volume and activity in PTSD (Bremner, 2006; Shin et al, 2006; Gilbertson et al, 2002), consistent with the hypothesis that contextual modulation of extinction is compromised.”
Trauma Theory Without Feminism? Evaluating Contemporary Understandings of Traumatized Women (2013, background): “(Gilbertson et al., 2002, p. 1242) Furthermore, there are issues of the validity of the ‘‘real-world’’ implications of brain imaging being claimed by neuroscientists.”
Screening, diagnosis, and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. (2012, neutral): “Such tools or pro cedures would take advantage of information about the genetic,1415 neuroanatomical and neurocognitive, 16 ,1 7 and psychophysiological,18,1 9 correlates and precursors of PTSD already gleaned from prior research.”