Assessment of brain age in posttraumatic stress disorder: Findings from the ENIGMA PTSD and brain age working groups. Brain Behav 2022 Jan;12(1):e2413
Date
12/16/2021Pubmed ID
34907666Pubmed Central ID
PMC8785613DOI
10.1002/brb3.2413Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85121330086 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 19 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with markers of accelerated aging. Estimates of brain age, compared to chronological age, may clarify the effects of PTSD on the brain and may inform treatment approaches targeting the neurobiology of aging in the context of PTSD.
METHOD: Adult subjects (N = 2229; 56.2% male) aged 18-69 years (mean = 35.6, SD = 11.0) from 21 ENIGMA-PGC PTSD sites underwent T1-weighted brain structural magnetic resonance imaging, and PTSD assessment (PTSD+, n = 884). Previously trained voxel-wise (brainageR) and region-of-interest (BARACUS and PHOTON) machine learning pipelines were compared in a subset of control subjects (n = 386). Linear mixed effects models were conducted in the full sample (those with and without PTSD) to examine the effect of PTSD on brain predicted age difference (brain PAD; brain age - chronological age) controlling for chronological age, sex, and scan site.
RESULTS: BrainageR most accurately predicted brain age in a subset (n = 386) of controls (brainageR: ICC = 0.71, R = 0.72, MAE = 5.68; PHOTON: ICC = 0.61, R = 0.62, MAE = 6.37; BARACUS: ICC = 0.47, R = 0.64, MAE = 8.80). Using brainageR, a three-way interaction revealed that young males with PTSD exhibited higher brain PAD relative to male controls in young and old age groups; old males with PTSD exhibited lower brain PAD compared to male controls of all ages.
DISCUSSION: Differential impact of PTSD on brain PAD in younger versus older males may indicate a critical window when PTSD impacts brain aging, followed by age-related brain changes that are consonant with individuals without PTSD. Future longitudinal research is warranted to understand how PTSD impacts brain aging across the lifespan.
Author List
Clausen AN, Fercho KA, Monsour M, Disner S, Salminen L, Haswell CC, Rubright EC, Watts AA, Buckley MN, Maron-Katz A, Sierk A, Manthey A, Suarez-Jimenez B, Olatunji BO, Averill CL, Hofmann D, Veltman DJ, Olson EA, Li G, Forster GL, Walter H, Fitzgerald J, Théberge J, Simons JS, Bomyea JA, Frijling JL, Krystal JH, Baker JT, Phan KL, Ressler K, Han LKM, Nawijn L, Lebois LAM, Schmaal L, Densmore M, Shenton ME, van Zuiden M, Stein M, Fani N, Simons RM, Neufeld RWJ, Lanius R, van Rooij S, Koch SBJ, Bonomo S, Jovanovic T, deRoon-Cassini T, Ely TD, Magnotta VA, He X, Abdallah CG, Etkin A, Schmahl C, Larson C, Rosso IM, Blackford JU, Stevens JS, Daniels JK, Herzog J, Kaufman ML, Olff M, Davidson RJ, Sponheim SR, Mueller SC, Straube T, Zhu X, Neria Y, Baugh LA, Cole JH, Thompson PM, Morey RAAuthor
Terri A. deRoon Cassini PhD Center Director, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Aging
Brain
Female
Humans
Machine Learning
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Young Adult