BSC researchers discover PTSD biomarkers

(from "Altered neural interactions assessed by magnetoencephalography (MEG) in veterans with PTSD." by Georgopoulos A, Tan H, Lewis S, Leuthold A, Winskowski A, Engdahl B., presented at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies’ annual meeting in Atlanta, GA on November 5th, 2009)

We have identified what we believe is among the first biological markers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to compare a large sample of veterans with PTSD to people without PTSD, we measured their Synchronous Neural Interactions (SNIs), the functional connections among groups of brain cells. The SNIs for veterans with PTSD were much more prominent on the right side of the brain, an area called the parieto-temporal region. This shows a strong miscommunication pattern of this area with the rest of the brain. It is possibly related to PTSD’s characteristic permanent and painful memories. Veterans who have recovered from PTSD still show this pattern, but not as strongly.

In a smaller sample, veterans with mild brain injuries--most commonly from blast exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan--show unfocused, diffused miscommunication among many brain regions, along with their symptoms such as headaches and dizziness. Blast-exposed veterans who no longer experience such symptoms still show this disturbed diffuse pattern, suggesting that some mild brain injuries can have very long-lasting effects. Veterans with mild brain injuries and PTSD show both diffuse and the right-sided miscommunication patterns.

Our plan is to confirm and extend these finding by studying a large number of veterans who served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. They will be veterans with and without mild brain injuries, and with and without PTSD. In addition to MEG, we will use standard PTSD assessment and brain injury testing (neuropsychological / memory testing).

Hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from our current wars have experienced concussions and/or psychological trauma. Standard brain scans (X-ray, CT, MRI) do not detect mild brain injuries. Standard clinical assessments are not always reliable. By establishing biomarkers for PTSD, mild brain injury, and their joint occurrence, our findings will help improve the diagnosis of brain injuries, PTSD, and especially, the combination of the two, which is such a challenge to classification systems and so frustrating to doctors, veterans, and veterans’ families.  This will lead to more accuracy in planning treatment, determining fitness for duty, and awarding compensation. This will improve veterans’ lives and the lives of their families. This project’s use of leading edge methods to study a large number of veterans will clearly advance our understanding of PTSD and brain function impairments caused by war trauma.