| SPECT studies of regional cerebral blood flow | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | Condition | PTSD | Control | Increased/decreased | Brain regions |
| Sachinvala et al. (2000) [40] | Resting | 17 | 8 (HC) | ↑ | Bilateral AC/PC regions, the right temporal and parietal regions, the right caudate/putamen region, and the left orbital and hippocampal regions |
| Chung et al. (2006) [41] | Resting | 23 | 64 (HC) | ↑ | Limbic regions |
| Liberzon et al. (1999) [42] | Symptom provocation | 14 | 14 (HC) | ↑ | Left amygdala and left nucleus accumbens |
| Bonne et al. (2003) [43] | Resting | 11 | 11 (HC) | ↑ | Cerebellum |
| Kim et al. (2007) [44] | Resting | 19 | 19 (HC) | ↑ | Right superior parietal lobe |
| Mirzaei et al. (2001) [46] | Resting | 8 | 8 (HC) | Interhemispheric asymmetry | Left > right in the temporoparietal region in PTSD group |
| Pavic et al. (2003) [47] | Resting | 25 | - | Interhemispheric asymmetry | Left > right in projection area of ventral basal ganglia in 13 of 25 participants |
| Zubieta et al. (1999) [48] | Symptom provocation | 12 | 12 (HC) | ↑ | Medial prefrontal cortex |
| Liberzon et al. (1996) [49] | Symptom provocation | 1 | - | ↑ | Subcortical regions, particularly the thalamus, during a flashback |
| Lindauer et al. (2004) [50] | Symptom provocation | 15 | 15 (non-PTSD) | ↑ | Right cuneus |
| SPECT studies examining treatment responses* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | Therapy | PTSD | Control | Increased/decreased | Brain regions |
| Seedat et al. (2004) [53] | Pharmacotherapy | 11 | - | ↓ | Left medial temporal cortex |
| Peres et al. (2007) [54] | Psychotherapy | 16 | 11 (non-PTSD) | ↑ | Parietal lobes, left hippocampus, thalamus, and left prefrontal cortex |
| Lindauer et al. (2008) [55] | Psychotherapy | 20 | 15 (non-PTSD) | ↓ | Right middle frontal gyrus |
| Levin et al. (1999) [56] | Psychotherapy | 6 | - | ↑ | Anterior cingulate gyrus and left frontal lobe in 4 of 6 patients |
| Lansing et al. (2005) [57] | Psychotherapy | 6 | - | ↑ | Left inferior frontal gyrus |
| Pagani et al. (2007) [58] | Psychotherapy | 15 | 27 (non-PTSD) | ↑ | Orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole, extended to the lateral temporal cortex and to the hypothalamus |
| SPECT studies of labeled ligand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | Neuroreceptor/transporter | PTSD | Control | Increased/decreased | Brain regions |
| Bremner et al. (2000) [59] | BZD receptor binding | 13 | 13 (HC) | ↓ | Prefrontal cortex |
| Fujita et al. (2004) [60] | BZD receptors | 19 | 19 (HC) | - | No regional differences |
| Hoexter et al. (2012) [61] | DAT density | 21 | 21 (non-PTSD) | ↑ | Bilateral striatal DAT |
The ↑symbol indicates an increase, and ↓ a decrease.
*Only post-treatment findings are included.
AC, anterior cingulate; BZD, benzodiazepine; DAT, dopamine transporter; HC, healthy controls; PC, posterior cingulate; PTSD, posttraumatic disorder; SPECT, single photon emission computed tomography.