Background

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is critically important in the overall maintenance of brain health, and disruptions in normal flow have been linked to the degradation of the brain’s structural integrity and function. Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of CBF as a link between psychiatric disorders and brain integrity. Although interpersonal early life trauma (IP-ELT) is a risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders and has been linked to disruptions in brain structure and function, the mechanisms through which IP-ELT alters brain integrity and development remain unclear. The goal of this study was to understand whether IP-ELT was associated with alterations in CBF assessed during adulthood. Further, because the cognitive implications of perfusion disruptions in IP-ELT are also unclear, this study sought to investigate the relationship between IP-ELT, perfusion, and cognition. Methods: 179 Operations Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) Veterans and military personnel completed pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) imaging, clinical interviews, the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ), and a battery of neuropsychological tests that were used to derive attention, memory, and executive function cognitive composite scores. To determine whether individuals were exposed to an IP-ELT, events on the TLEQ that specifically queried interpersonal trauma before the age of 18 were tallied for each individual. Analyses compared individuals who reported an interpersonal IP-ELT (IP-ELT+, n = 48) with those who did not (IP-ELT-, n = 131). Results: Whole brain analyses revealed that IP-ELT+ individuals had significantly greater CBF in the right inferior/middle temporal gyrus compared to those in the IP-ELT- group, even after controlling for age, sex, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Further, perfusion in the right inferior/middle temporal gyrus significantly mediated the relationship between IP-ELT and memory, not attention or executive function, such that those with an IP-ELT had greater perfusion, which, in turn, was associated with poorer memory. Examination of other clinical variables such as current PTSD diagnosis and severity as well as the interaction between IP-ELT and PTSD yielded no significant effects. Conclusions: These results extend prior work demonstrating an association between ELT and cerebral perfusion by suggesting that increased CBF may be an important neural marker with cognitive implications in populations at risk for psychiatric disorders.

中文翻译：

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人际交往的早期生活创伤与 9/11 后退伍军人的脑灌注增加和记忆力较差有关。

背景

脑血流量 (CBF) 在整体维持大脑健康方面至关重要，正常血流的中断与大脑结构完整性和功能的退化有关。最近的研究强调了 CBF 作为精神疾病和大脑完整性之间联系的潜在作用。虽然人际早期生活创伤 (IP-ELT) 是精神疾病发展的风险因素，并且与大脑结构和功能的破坏有关，但 IP-ELT 改变大脑完整性和发育的机制仍不清楚。本研究的目的是了解 IP-ELT 是否与成年期评估的 CBF 变化有关。此外，由于 IP-ELT 中灌注中断的认知影响也不清楚，方法： 179 次持久自由/伊拉克自由/新黎明行动 (OEF/OIF/OND) 退伍军人和军事人员完成了伪连续动脉自旋标记 (pCASL) 成像、临床访谈、创伤性生活事件问卷 (TLEQ) 和电池用于获得注意力、记忆力和执行功能认知综合评分的神经心理学测试。为了确定个体是否暴露于 IP-ELT，对每个个体在 18 岁之前专门询问人际创伤的 TLEQ 事件进行了统计。分析比较了报告人际 IP-ELT（IP-ELT+，n = 48）与没有报告人际 IP-ELT（IP-ELT-，n = 131）的个体。结果：全脑分析显示，即使在控制了年龄、性别和创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 之后，与 IP-ELT- 组相比，IP-ELT+ 个体在右侧颞下回/中颞回的 CBF 显着增加。此外，右侧颞下回/中颞回的灌注显着介导了 IP-ELT 与记忆力之间的关系，而不是注意力或执行功能，因此具有 IP-ELT 的患者灌注量更大，而这反过来又与较差的记忆力有关. 检查其他临床变量，例如当前的 PTSD 诊断和严重程度以及 IP-ELT 和 PTSD 之间的相互作用，没有产生显着影响。结论：这些结果扩展了先前的工作，证明了 ELT 与脑灌注之间的关联，表明增加的 CBF 可能是一个重要的神经标志物，对有精神疾病风险的人群具有认知意义。