Browsing by Author "Hudak, Lauren A."

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    Association between microbiome and the development of adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae after traumatic stress exposure
    (Springer Nature, 2023-11-18) Zeamer, Abigail L.; Salive, Marie-Claire; An, Xinming; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; House, Stacey L.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Zeng, Donglin; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Rauch, Scott L.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Swor, Robert A.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Harris, Erica; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Merchant, Roland C.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; O’Neil, Brian J.; Sergot, Paulina; Sanchez, Leon D.; Bruce, Steven E.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Koenen, Karestan C.; McLean, Samuel A.; Bucci, Vanni; Haran, John P.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Patients exposed to trauma often experience high rates of adverse post-traumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS). The biological mechanisms promoting APNS are currently unknown, but the microbiota-gut-brain axis offers an avenue to understanding mechanisms as well as possibilities for intervention. Microbiome composition after trauma exposure has been poorly examined regarding neuropsychiatric outcomes. We aimed to determine whether the gut microbiomes of trauma-exposed emergency department patients who develop APNS have dysfunctional gut microbiome profiles and discover potential associated mechanisms. We performed metagenomic analysis on stool samples (n = 51) from a subset of adults enrolled in the Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA (AURORA) study. Two-, eight- and twelve-week post-trauma outcomes for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (PTSD checklist for DSM-5), normalized depression scores (PROMIS Depression Short Form 8b) and somatic symptom counts were collected. Generalized linear models were created for each outcome using microbial abundances and relevant demographics. Mixed-effect random forest machine learning models were used to identify associations between APNS outcomes and microbial features and encoded metabolic pathways from stool metagenomics. Microbial species, including Flavonifractor plautii, Ruminococcus gnavus and, Bifidobacterium species, which are prevalent commensal gut microbes, were found to be important in predicting worse APNS outcomes from microbial abundance data. Notably, through APNS outcome modeling using microbial metabolic pathways, worse APNS outcomes were highly predicted by decreased L-arginine related pathway genes and increased citrulline and ornithine pathways. Common commensal microbial species are enriched in individuals who develop APNS. More notably, we identified a biological mechanism through which the gut microbiome reduces global arginine bioavailability, a metabolic change that has also been demonstrated in the plasma of patients with PTSD.
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    Associations of Alcohol and Cannabis Use with Change in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression Symptoms Over Time in Recently Trauma-exposed Individuals
    (Cambridge University Press, 2024) Hinojosa, Cecilia A.; Liew, Amanda; An, Xinming; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Basu, Archana; van Rooij, Sanne J. H.; House, Stacey L.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; Zeng, Donglin; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Jovanovic, Tanja; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Germine, Laura T.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Kurz, Michael C.; Swor, Robert A.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Datner, Elizabeth M.; Chang, Anna M.; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Merchant, Roland C.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; Sergot, Paulina; Sanchez, Leon D.; Bruce, Steven E.; Miller, Mark W.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Joormann, Jutta; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Sheridan, John F.; Harte, Steven E.; Elliott, James M.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Koenen, Karestan C.; McLean, Samuel A.; Ressler, Kerry J.; Fani, Negar; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Several hypotheses may explain the association between substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. However, few studies have utilized a large multisite dataset to understand this complex relationship. Our study assessed the relationship between alcohol and cannabis use trajectories and PTSD and depression symptoms across 3 months in recently trauma-exposed civilians. Methods: In total, 1618 (1037 female) participants provided self-report data on past 30-day alcohol and cannabis use and PTSD and depression symptoms during their emergency department (baseline) visit. We reassessed participant's substance use and clinical symptoms 2, 8, and 12 weeks posttrauma. Latent class mixture modeling determined alcohol and cannabis use trajectories in the sample. Changes in PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed across alcohol and cannabis use trajectories via a mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: Three trajectory classes (low, high, increasing use) provided the best model fit for alcohol and cannabis use. The low alcohol use class exhibited lower PTSD symptoms at baseline than the high use class; the low cannabis use class exhibited lower PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline than the high and increasing use classes; these symptoms greatly increased at week 8 and declined at week 12. Participants who already use alcohol and cannabis exhibited greater PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline that increased at week 8 with a decrease in symptoms at week 12. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that alcohol and cannabis use trajectories are associated with the intensity of posttrauma psychopathology. These findings could potentially inform the timing of therapeutic strategies.
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    The AURORA Study: A Longitudinal, Multimodal Library of Brain Biology and Function after Traumatic Stress Exposure
    (Springer Nature, 2020-02) McLean, Samuel A.; Ressler, Kerry; Koenen, Karestan Chase; Neylan, Thomas; Germine, Laura; Jovanovic, Tanja; Clifford, Gari D.; Zeng, Donglin; An, Xinming; Linnstaedt, Sarah; Beaudoin, Francesca; House, Stacey; Bollen, Kenneth A.; Musey, Paul; Hendry, Phyllis; Jones, Christopher W.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Swor, Robert; Datner, Elizabeth; Mohiuddin, Kamran; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Storrow, Alan; Kurz, Michael Christopher; McGrath, Meghan E.; Fermann, Gregory J.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Gentile, Nina; Chang, Anna Marie; Peak, David A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Sergot, Paulina; Peacock, W. Frank; Diercks, Deborah; Sanchez, Leon D.; Rathlev, Niels; Domeier, Robert; Haran, John Patrick; Pearson, Claire; Murty, Vishnu P.; Insel, Thomas R.; Dagum, Paul; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka; Bruce, Steven E.; Gaynes, Bradley N.; Joormann, Jutta; Miller, Mark W.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Buysse, Daniel J.; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Rauch, Scott L.; Harte, Steven E.; Young, Larry J.; Barch, Deanna M.; Lebois, Lauren A. M.; van Rooij, Sanne J. H.; Luna, Beatriz; Smoller, Jordan W.; Dougherty, Robert F.; Pace, Thaddeus W. W.; Binder, Elisabeth; Sheridan, John F.; Elliott, James M.; Basu, Archana; Fromer, Menachem; Parlikar, Tushar; Zaslavsky, Alan M.; Kessler, Ronald; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS) are common among civilian trauma survivors and military veterans. These APNS, as traditionally classified, include posttraumatic stress, postconcussion syndrome, depression, and regional or widespread pain. Traditional classifications have come to hamper scientific progress because they artificially fragment APNS into siloed, syndromic diagnoses unmoored to discrete components of brain functioning and studied in isolation. These limitations in classification and ontology slow the discovery of pathophysiologic mechanisms, biobehavioral markers, risk prediction tools, and preventive/treatment interventions. Progress in overcoming these limitations has been challenging because such progress would require studies that both evaluate a broad spectrum of posttraumatic sequelae (to overcome fragmentation) and also perform in-depth biobehavioral evaluation (to index sequelae to domains of brain function). This article summarizes the methods of the Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA (AURORA) Study. AURORA conducts a large-scale (n = 5000 target sample) in-depth assessment of APNS development using a state-of-the-art battery of self-report, neurocognitive, physiologic, digital phenotyping, psychophysical, neuroimaging, and genomic assessments, beginning in the early aftermath of trauma and continuing for 1 year. The goals of AURORA are to achieve improved phenotypes, prediction tools, and understanding of molecular mechanisms to inform the future development and testing of preventive and treatment interventions.
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    Childhood adversity is associated with longitudinal white matter changes after adulthood trauma
    (medRxiv, 2025-03-14) Tianyi, Li; Huibregtse, Megan E.; Ely, Timothy D.; van Rooij, Sanne J. H.; Lebois, Lauren A. M.; Webb, E. Kate; Jovanovic, Tanja; House, Stacey L.; Bruce, Steven E.; Murty, Vishnu P.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; An, Xinming; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Bollen, Kenneth A.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Datner, Elizabeth M.; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Merchant, Roland C.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Sergot, Paulina; Sanchez, Leon D.; Sheridan, John F.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Ressler, Kerry J.; McLean, Samuel A.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Harnett, Nathaniel G.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Childhood adversity is associated with susceptibility to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. Both PTSD and adverse experiences in childhood are linked to disrupted white matter microstructure, yet the role of white matter as a potential neural mechanism connecting childhood adversity to PTSD remains unclear. The present study investigated the potential moderating role of previous childhood adversity on longitudinal changes in white matter microstructures and posttraumatic stress symptoms following a recent traumatic event in adulthood. Methods: As part of the AURORA Study, 114 recent trauma survivors completed diffusion weighted imaging at 2-weeks and 6-months after exposure. Participants reported on prior childhood adversity and PTSD symptoms at 2-weeks, 6-months, and 12-months post-trauma. We performed both region-of-interest (ROI) and whole-brain correlational tractography analyses to index associations between white matter microstructure changes and prior adversity. Results: Whole-brain correlational tractography revealed that greater childhood adversity moderated the changes in quantitative anisotropy (QA) over time across threat and visual processing tracts including the cingulum bundle and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). Further, QA changes within cingulum bundle, IFOF, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus were associated with changes in PTSD symptoms between 2-weeks and 6-months. Conclusions: Our findings suggest temporal variability in threat and visual white matter tracts may be a potential neural pathway through which childhood adversity confers risk to PTSD symptoms after adulthood trauma. Future studies should take the temporal properties of white matter into consideration to better understand the neurobiology of childhood adversity and PTSD.
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    Correction: The AURORA Study: a longitudinal, multimodal library of brain biology and function after traumatic stress exposure
    (Springer Nature, 2021) McLean, Samuel A.; Ressler, Kerry; Koenen, Karestan Chase; Neylan, Thomas; Germine, Laura; Jovanovic, Tanja; Clifford, Gari D.; Zeng, Donglin; An, Xinming; Linnstaedt, Sarah; Beaudoin, Francesca; House, Stacey; Bollen, Kenneth A.; Musey, Paul; Hendry, Phyllis; Jones, Christopher W.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Swor, Robert; Datner, Elizabeth; Mohiuddin, Kamran; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Storrow, Alan; Kurz, Michael Christopher; McGrath, Meghan E.; Fermann, Gregory J.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Gentile, Nina; Chang, Anna Marie; Peak, David A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Sergot, Paulina; Peacock, W. Frank; Diercks, Deborah; Sanchez, Leon D.; Rathlev, Niels; Domeier, Robert; Haran, John Patrick; Pearson, Claire; Murty, Vishnu P.; Insel, Thomas R.; Dagum, Paul; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka; Bruce, Steven E.; Gaynes, Bradley N.; Joormann, Jutta; Miller, Mark W.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Buysse, Daniel J.; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Rauch, Scott L.; Harte, Steven E.; Young, Larry J.; Barch, Deanna M.; Lebois, Lauren A. M.; van Rooij, Sanne J. H.; Luna, Beatriz; Smoller, Jordan W.; Dougherty, Robert F.; Pace, Thaddeus W. W.; Binder, Elisabeth; Sheridan, John F.; Elliott, James M.; Basu, Archana; Fromer, Menachem; Parlikar, Tushar; Zaslavsky, Alan M.; Kessler, Ronald; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Following publication of this article, the authors noticed that the word “not” had been accidentally omitted from the sentence: “A similar pattern is found in the military, where the great majority of APNS cases are found among those who are not severely injured”. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of this article.
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    Derivation and Validation of a Brief Emergency Department-Based Prediction Tool for Posttraumatic Stress After Motor Vehicle Collision
    (Elsevier, 2023) Jones, Christopher W.; An, Xinming; Ji, Yinyao; Liu, Mochuan; Zeng, Donglin; House, Stacey L.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Jovanovic, Tanja; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Germine, Laura T.; Bollen, Kenneth A.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Punches, Brittany E.; Lyons, Michael S.; Kurz, Michael C.; Swor, Robert A.; McGrath, Meghan E.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Datner, Elizabeth M.; Harris, Erica; Chang, Anna M.; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Merchant, Roland C.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Sergot, Paulina; Sanchez, Leon D.; Bruce, Steven E.; Miller, Mark W.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Joormann, Jutta; Barch, Deanna M.; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Sheridan, John F.; Smoller, Jordan W.; Harte, Steven E.; Elliott, James M.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Ressler, Kerry J.; Kessler, Ronald C.; McLean, Samuel A.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Study objective: To derive and initially validate a brief bedside clinical decision support tool that identifies emergency department (ED) patients at high risk of substantial, persistent posttraumatic stress symptoms after a motor vehicle collision. Methods: Derivation (n=1,282, 19 ED sites) and validation (n=282, 11 separate ED sites) data were obtained from adults prospectively enrolled in the Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA study who were discharged from the ED after motor vehicle collision-related trauma. The primary outcome was substantial posttraumatic stress symptoms at 3 months (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 ≥38). Logistic regression derivation models were evaluated for discriminative ability using the area under the curve and the accuracy of predicted risk probabilities (Brier score). Candidate posttraumatic stress predictors assessed in these models (n=265) spanned a range of sociodemographic, baseline health, peritraumatic, and mechanistic domains. The final model selection was based on performance and ease of administration. Results: Significant 3-month posttraumatic stress symptoms were common in the derivation (27%) and validation (26%) cohort. The area under the curve and Brier score of the final 8-question tool were 0.82 and 0.14 in the derivation cohort and 0.76 and 0.17 in the validation cohort. Conclusion: This simple 8-question tool demonstrates promise to risk-stratify individuals with substantial posttraumatic stress symptoms who are discharged to home after a motor vehicle collision. Both external validation of this instrument, and work to further develop more accurate tools, are needed. Such tools might benefit public health by enabling the conduct of preventive intervention trials and assisting the growing number of EDs that provide services to trauma survivors aimed at promoting psychological recovery.
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    Disentangling sex differences in PTSD risk factors
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Haering, Stephanie; Seligowski, Antonia V.; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Michopoulos, Vasiliki; House, Stacey L.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; An, Xinming; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Germine, Laura T.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Swor, Robert A.; Gentile, Nina T.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Merchant, Roland C.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Sanchez, Leon D.; Bruce, Steven E.; Harte, Steven E.; McLean, Samuel A.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Powers, Abigail; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Despite extensive research on sex/gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Here we present a systematic overview of three sex/gender-related risk pathways. We assessed 16 risk factors as well as 3-month PTSD severity in a prospective cohort study (n=2924) of acutely traumatized individuals and investigated potential mediators in the pathway between sex assigned at birth and PTSD severity using multiple mediation analysis with regularization. Six risk factors were more prevalent/severe in women, and none were more pronounced in men. Analyses showed that acute stress disorder, neuroticism, lifetime sexual assault exposure, anxiety sensitivity, and pre-trauma anxiety symptoms fully mediated and uniquely contributed to the relationship between sex assigned at birth and PTSD severity. Our results demonstrate different risk mechanisms for women and men. Such knowledge can inform targeted interventions. Our systematic approach to differential risk pathways can be transferred to other mental disorders to guide sex- and gender-sensitive mental health research.
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    Hippocampal Threat Reactivity Interacts with Physiological Arousal to Predict PTSD Symptoms
    (Society for Neuroscience, 2022) Tanriverdi, Büşra; Gregory, David F.; Olino, Thomas M.; Ely, Timothy D.; Harnett, Nathaniel G.; van Rooij, Sanne J. H.; Lebois, Lauren A. M.; Seligowski, Antonia V.; Jovanovic, Tanja; Ressler, Kerry J.; House, Stacey L.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; An, Xinming; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Germine, Laura T.; Bollen, Kenneth A.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Kurz, Michael C.; McGrath, Meghan E.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Datner, Elizabeth M.; Pearson, Claire; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Sanchez, Leon D.; Bruce, Steven E.; Miller, Mark W.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Joormann, Jutta; Barch, Deanna M.; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Sheridan, John F.; Smoller, Jordan W.; Harte, Steven E.; Elliott, James M.; McLean, Samuel A.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Murty, Vishnu P.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Hippocampal impairments are reliably associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, little research has characterized how increased threat-sensitivity may interact with arousal responses to alter hippocampal reactivity, and further how these interactions relate to the sequelae of trauma-related symptoms. In a sample of individuals recently exposed to trauma (N=116, 76 Female), we found that PTSD symptoms at 2-weeks were associated with decreased hippocampal responses to threat as assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Further, the relationship between hippocampal threat sensitivity and PTSD symptomology only emerged in individuals who showed transient, high threat-related arousal, as assayed by an independently collected measure of Fear Potentiated Startle. Collectively, our finding suggests that development of PTSD is associated with threat-related decreases in hippocampal function, due to increases in fear-potentiated arousal. Significance Statement: Alterations in hippocampal function linked to threat-related arousal are reliably associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, how these alterations relate to the sequelae of trauma-related symptoms is unknown. Prior models based on non-trauma samples suggest that arousal may impact hippocampal neurophysiology leading to maladaptive behavior. Here we show that decreased hippocampal threat sensitivity interacts with fear-potentiated startle to predict PTSD symptoms. Specifically, individuals with high fear-potentiated startle and low, transient hippocampal threat sensitivity showed the greatest PTSD symptomology. These findings bridge literatures of threat-related arousal and hippocampal function to better understand PTSD risk.
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    Intensive longitudinal assessment following index trauma to predict development of PTSD using machine learning
    (Elsevier, 2024) Horwitz, Adam; McCarthy, Kaitlyn; House, Stacey L.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; An, Xinming; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Germine, Laura T.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Swor, Robert A.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Harris, Erica; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; Sergot, Paulina; Sanchez, Leon D.; Bruce, Steven E.; Joormann, Jutta; Harte, Steven E.; Koenen, Karestan C.; McLean, Samuel A.; Sen, Srijan; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    There are significant challenges to identifying which individuals require intervention following exposure to trauma, and a need for strategies to identify and provide individuals at risk for developing PTSD with timely interventions. The present study seeks to identify a minimal set of trauma-related symptoms, assessed during the weeks following traumatic exposure, that can accurately predict PTSD. Participants were 2185 adults (Mean age=36.4 years; 64% women; 50% Black) presenting for emergency care following traumatic exposure. Participants received a 'flash survey' with 6-8 varying symptoms (from a pool of 26 trauma symptoms) several times per week for eight weeks following the trauma exposure (each symptom assessed ∼6 times). Features (mean, sd, last, worst, peak-end scores) from the repeatedly assessed symptoms were included as candidate variables in a CART machine learning analysis to develop a pragmatic predictive algorithm. PTSD (PCL-5 ≥38) was present for 669 (31%) participants at the 8-week follow-up. A classification tree with three splits, based on mean scores of nervousness, rehashing, and fatigue, predicted PTSD with an Area Under the Curve of 0.836. Findings suggest feasibility for a 3-item assessment protocol, delivered once per week, following traumatic exposure to assess and potentially facilitate follow-up care for those at risk.
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    Internal capsule microstructure mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and PTSD following adulthood trauma exposure
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Wong, Samantha A.; Lebois, Lauren A. M.; Ely, Timothy D.; van Rooij, Sanne J. H.; Bruce, Steven E.; Murty, Vishnu P.; Jovanovic, Tanja; House, Stacey L.; Beaudoin, Francesca L.; An, Xinming; Zeng, Donglin; Neylan, Thomas C.; Clifford, Gari D.; Linnstaedt, Sarah D.; Germine, Laura T.; Bollen, Kenneth A.; Rauch, Scott L.; Haran, John P.; Storrow, Alan B.; Lewandowski, Christopher; Musey, Paul I., Jr.; Hendry, Phyllis L.; Sheikh, Sophia; Jones, Christopher W.; Punches, Brittany E.; Kurz, Michael C.; Swor, Robert A.; Hudak, Lauren A.; Pascual, Jose L.; Seamon, Mark J.; Pearson, Claire; Peak, David A.; Merchant, Roland C.; Domeier, Robert M.; Rathlev, Niels K.; O'Neil, Brian J.; Sergot, Paulina; Sanchez, Leon D.; Miller, Mark W.; Pietrzak, Robert H.; Joormann, Jutta; Barch, Deanna M.; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Harte, Steven E.; Elliott, James M.; Kessler, Ronald C.; Koenen, Karestan C.; McLean, Samuel A.; Ressler, Kerry J.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Harnett, Nathaniel G.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Childhood trauma is a known risk factor for trauma and stress-related disorders in adulthood. However, limited research has investigated the impact of childhood trauma on brain structure linked to later posttraumatic dysfunction. We investigated the effect of childhood trauma on white matter microstructure after recent trauma and its relationship with future posttraumatic dysfunction among trauma-exposed adult participants (n = 202) recruited from emergency departments as part of the AURORA Study. Participants completed self-report scales assessing prior childhood maltreatment within 2-weeks in addition to assessments of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and dissociation symptoms within 6-months of their traumatic event. Fractional anisotropy (FA) obtained from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) collected at 2-weeks and 6-months was used to index white matter microstructure. Childhood maltreatment load predicted 6-month PTSD symptoms (b = 1.75, SE = 0.78, 95% CI = [0.20, 3.29]) and inversely varied with FA in the bilateral internal capsule (IC) at 2-weeks (p = 0.0294, FDR corrected) and 6-months (p = 0.0238, FDR corrected). We observed a significant indirect effect of childhood maltreatment load on 6-month PTSD symptoms through 2-week IC microstructure (b = 0.37, Boot SE = 0.18, 95% CI = [0.05, 0.76]) that fully mediated the effect of childhood maltreatment load on PCL-5 scores (b = 1.37, SE = 0.79, 95% CI = [−0.18, 2.93]). IC microstructure did not mediate relationships between childhood maltreatment and depressive, anxiety, or dissociative symptomatology. Our findings suggest a unique role for IC microstructure as a stable neural pathway between childhood trauma and future PTSD symptoms following recent trauma. Notably, our work did not support roles of white matter tracts previously found to vary with PTSD symptoms and childhood trauma exposure, including the cingulum bundle, uncinate fasciculus, and corpus callosum. Given the IC contains sensory fibers linked to perception and motor control, childhood maltreatment might impact the neural circuits that relay and process threat-related inputs and responses to trauma.