Increased hippocampal volume and gene expression following cognitive behavioral therapy in PTSD

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Abstract

[Extract]
A commentary on
Association among clinical response, hippocampal volume, and FKBP5 gene expression in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder receiving cognitive behavioral therapy

by Levy-Gigi, E., Szabo, C., Kelemen, O., and Keri, S. (2013). Biol. Psychiatry. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.05.017

In a recent study in Biological Psychiatry, Levy-Gigi et al. found that a 12 weekly 90-mins cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with an increase in hippocampal volume and expression of glucocorticoid receptor genes, known as FKBP5 (Levy-Gigi et al., 2013). This is one of the few studies that have investigated the effects of CBT on changes in brain volumes as well as gene expression in individuals with PTSD. The Levy-Gigi et al. study complements prior studies showing that antidepressant treatment is also associated with increased hippocampal volume in psychiatric patients, including PTSD and depression (Vermetten et al., 2003). Despite the positive effect of psychopharmacological and behavioral therapy in PTSD, it is not known whether CBT and psychopharmacological treatments are associated with dissociable effects on the brain and behavior.

Interestingly, Levy-Gigi et al. found that CBT ameliorates all aspects of PTSD, including avoidance, re-experiencing, and hyperarousal symptoms. However, it is not clear from the Levy-Gigi et al. study whether changes to the hippocampal volume are associated with amelioration to which PTSD symptoms. Prior studies show that there is a trend for a negative correlation between higher re-experiencing symptoms and hippocampal volume (Shucard et al., 2012), perhaps suggesting that re-experiencing symptoms are more ameliorated than other PTSD symptoms following CBT treatment.
Original languageEnglish
Article number747
JournalFrontiers in Human Neuroscience
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Nov 2013
Externally publishedYes

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