Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma

Childhood trauma (CT) often co-occurs with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and is associated with poor treatment outcome. We could demonstrated that patients with AUD and a history of childhood trauma showed reduced structural connectivity of the amygdala. Here, we additionally aimed to investigate front...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elisabeth Jehli, Fabienne Burri, Niklaus Denier, Franz Moggi, Andrea Federspiel, Roland Wiest, Maria Stein, Tobias Bracht, Matthias Grieder, Leila M. Soravia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:NeuroImage: Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956024000291
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850257251366862848
author Elisabeth Jehli
Fabienne Burri
Niklaus Denier
Franz Moggi
Andrea Federspiel
Roland Wiest
Maria Stein
Tobias Bracht
Matthias Grieder
Leila M. Soravia
author_facet Elisabeth Jehli
Fabienne Burri
Niklaus Denier
Franz Moggi
Andrea Federspiel
Roland Wiest
Maria Stein
Tobias Bracht
Matthias Grieder
Leila M. Soravia
author_sort Elisabeth Jehli
collection DOAJ
description Childhood trauma (CT) often co-occurs with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and is associated with poor treatment outcome. We could demonstrated that patients with AUD and a history of childhood trauma showed reduced structural connectivity of the amygdala. Here, we additionally aimed to investigate fronto-limbic functional connectivity (FC) in patients with AUD with (AUD-CT) and without (AUD-noCT) CT. Based on findings in CT, we hypothesized reduced FC of the amygdala with the prefrontal cortex in AUD-CT and worse treatment outcome compared to AUD-noCT.Resting state fMRI scans were acquired in abstinent inpatients with AUD and healthy controls (HCs). We compared bilateral amygdala FC between AUD-CT (n = 21), AUD-noCT (n = 22), and HC (n = 27) using seed-based connectivity (SBC) and region-of-interest to region-of-interest (ROI-ROI) analysis. Sociodemographic and alcohol-specific variables (percent days abstinent, PDA) were assessed at treatment admission and three-month follow-up. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) assessed trauma severity. SBC analysis revealed that AUD-CT showed increased FC of the left and right amygdala with the medial prefrontal cortex and left paracingulate gyrus compared to HC. AUD-CT showed increased ROI-ROI FC of the left with the right amygdala and the right amygdala with the medial prefrontal cortex. Moreover, AUD-CT exhibited a greater reduction of PDA at three-month follow-up compared to AUD-noCT.Increased FC of the amygdala, the medial prefrontal cortex, and paracingulate gyrus in AUD-CT might be a compensatory adaption to the reduced structural connectivity of the amygdala. Those specific alterations of FC in AUD-CT may represent a distinguishable neurobiological subtype of AUD, possibly underlying the complex clinical picture and worse treatment outcome.
format Article
id doaj-art-534dd9e33df74e7195ebefb173127549
institution OA Journals
issn 2666-9560
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series NeuroImage: Reports
spelling doaj-art-534dd9e33df74e7195ebefb1731275492025-08-20T01:56:28ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Reports2666-95602024-12-014410022310.1016/j.ynirp.2024.100223Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood traumaElisabeth Jehli0Fabienne Burri1Niklaus Denier2Franz Moggi3Andrea Federspiel4Roland Wiest5Maria Stein6Tobias Bracht7Matthias Grieder8Leila M. Soravia9Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; University Hospital of Zurich, Department of Neurosurgery, Zurich, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandInstitute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandTranslational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Clinic Suedhang, Kirchlindach, Switzerland; Corresponding author. University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, 3000, Bern, 60, Switzerland.Childhood trauma (CT) often co-occurs with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and is associated with poor treatment outcome. We could demonstrated that patients with AUD and a history of childhood trauma showed reduced structural connectivity of the amygdala. Here, we additionally aimed to investigate fronto-limbic functional connectivity (FC) in patients with AUD with (AUD-CT) and without (AUD-noCT) CT. Based on findings in CT, we hypothesized reduced FC of the amygdala with the prefrontal cortex in AUD-CT and worse treatment outcome compared to AUD-noCT.Resting state fMRI scans were acquired in abstinent inpatients with AUD and healthy controls (HCs). We compared bilateral amygdala FC between AUD-CT (n = 21), AUD-noCT (n = 22), and HC (n = 27) using seed-based connectivity (SBC) and region-of-interest to region-of-interest (ROI-ROI) analysis. Sociodemographic and alcohol-specific variables (percent days abstinent, PDA) were assessed at treatment admission and three-month follow-up. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) assessed trauma severity. SBC analysis revealed that AUD-CT showed increased FC of the left and right amygdala with the medial prefrontal cortex and left paracingulate gyrus compared to HC. AUD-CT showed increased ROI-ROI FC of the left with the right amygdala and the right amygdala with the medial prefrontal cortex. Moreover, AUD-CT exhibited a greater reduction of PDA at three-month follow-up compared to AUD-noCT.Increased FC of the amygdala, the medial prefrontal cortex, and paracingulate gyrus in AUD-CT might be a compensatory adaption to the reduced structural connectivity of the amygdala. Those specific alterations of FC in AUD-CT may represent a distinguishable neurobiological subtype of AUD, possibly underlying the complex clinical picture and worse treatment outcome.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956024000291Alcohol use disorderAmygdalaChildhood traumaFunctional connectivityResting state fMRI
spellingShingle Elisabeth Jehli
Fabienne Burri
Niklaus Denier
Franz Moggi
Andrea Federspiel
Roland Wiest
Maria Stein
Tobias Bracht
Matthias Grieder
Leila M. Soravia
Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
NeuroImage: Reports
Alcohol use disorder
Amygdala
Childhood trauma
Functional connectivity
Resting state fMRI
title Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
title_full Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
title_fullStr Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
title_full_unstemmed Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
title_short Increased functional connectivity of amygdalar-frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
title_sort increased functional connectivity of amygdalar frontal pathways in patients with alcohol use disorder and childhood trauma
topic Alcohol use disorder
Amygdala
Childhood trauma
Functional connectivity
Resting state fMRI
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666956024000291
work_keys_str_mv AT elisabethjehli increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT fabienneburri increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT niklausdenier increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT franzmoggi increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT andreafederspiel increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT rolandwiest increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT mariastein increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT tobiasbracht increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT matthiasgrieder increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma
AT leilamsoravia increasedfunctionalconnectivityofamygdalarfrontalpathwaysinpatientswithalcoholusedisorderandchildhoodtrauma