Project Summary

In Kyoon Lyoo, M.D., Ph.D., (Independent Investigator 2006) of Seoul National University Hospital, aims to using a special type of imaging to study how the shape of the brain’s amygdala changes in post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animal studies suggest a key role of subdivisions of the amygdala in fear conditioning and emotional memories. Furthermore, several functional human brain imaging studies have reported the hyperactivity of amygdala. But considering its potential importance, there have been only a few volumetric studies of amygdala with inconsistent findings. That could be because the amygdala is a small structure for visualization and its lateral, basal, and central nuclei subdivisions are even smaller. Dr. Lyoo, though, recently has developed a Spherical Harmonic Description (SPHARM)-based shape analysis imaging technique and successfully applied it in detecting subtle subregional structural changes of basal ganglia in subjects with bipolar disorder. The goals of the proposed study are to modify the SPHARM-based shape analysis technique to assess amygdala subregions and compare the shape of amygdala subregions in different groups of individuals: in people who experienced a trauma and did not get PTSD and in people who experienced a trauma and did get PTSD and controls. Dr. Lyoo hypothesizes that the central subregion of the amygdala will be larger and the basal amygdala will be smaller in the PTSD group relative to the post-trauma non-PTSD and healthy comparison groups. Additionally, he hypothesizes that shape differences will be restored over time in PTSD subjects who recover.

Program Area: ANXIETY DISORDERS\Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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