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Study on the changes of Structural Covariance Network in post-traumatic stress disorder

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Abstract

The topological properties of functional brain networks in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been thoroughly examined, whereas the topology of structural covariance networks has been researched much less. Based on graph theoretical approaches, we investigated the topological architecture of structural covariance networks among PTSD, trauma-exposed controls (TEC), and healthy controls (HC) by constructing covariance networks driven by inter-regional correlations of cortical thickness. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) scans and clinical scales were performed on 27 PTSD, 33 TEC, and 29 HC subjects. Group-level structural covariance networks were established using pearson correlations of cortical thickness between 68 brain areas, and the graph theory method was utilized to study the global and nodal properties. PTSD and HC subjects did not differ at the global level. When PTSD subjects were compared to TEC subjects, they had significantly higher clustering coefficient (p = .014) and local efficiency (p = .031). Nodes having different nodal centralities between groups did not pass the false-discovery rate correction at the node level. According to the structural brain network topological characteristics discovered in this study, PTSD manifests differently compared to the TEC group. In the PTSD group, the SCN keeps the small-world characteristics, but the degree of functional separation is enhanced. The TEC group’s reduced small worldness and the tendency for brain network randomization could be signs of trauma recovery.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81871344, 81971602, 81760308), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20191369), the Qing Lan project of higher education institutions of Jiangsu Province; This project was supported by Hainan Province Clinical Medical Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, 122 Ninghai Rd. Nanjing, 210097, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

    Tongtong Xu, Yingliang Dai & Yuan Zhong Ph.D

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Nanjing Normal University, 210097, Nanjing, PR China

    Tongtong Xu, Yingliang Dai & Yuan Zhong Ph.D

  3. Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, NO. 19, Xiuhua St, Xiuying Dic, 570311, Haikou, Hainan, P.R. China

    Feng Chen

  4. Mental Health Institute, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Central South University, No.139 Middle Renmin Road, 410011, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

    Li Zhang & Guangming Lu

  5. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 215006, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

    Jun Ke

  6. Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, 210002, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

    Rongfeng Qi & Guangming Lu

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  1. Tongtong Xu
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Contributions

Author contributions included conception and study design (YZ and GML), data acquisition (FC and LZ), data processing and statistical analysis (TTX, JK, and RFQ), interpretation of results (TTX, FC, and YZ), drafting the manuscript work or revising it critically for important intellectual content (TTX, FC, YLD, and YZ) and approval of the final version to be published and agreement to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of all aspects of the work (All authors).

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Correspondence to Yuan Zhong Ph.D.

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According to the Declaration of Helsinki, all participants signed written informed consent. At the same time, a protocol, which has been approved by the ethics committee of Hainan General Hospital, was obtained for all subjects.

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Tongtong Xu and Feng Chen contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

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Xu, T., Chen, F., Zhang, L. et al. Study on the changes of Structural Covariance Network in post-traumatic stress disorder. Brain Imaging and Behavior 16, 1992–2000 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-022-00669-y

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