SynthesisNeuroImage. Clinical2018
Structural white matter changes in adults and children with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
- Structural brain correlates in major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder: a diffusion tensor imaging meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Neuroimaging Correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Journal of neurotrauma · 2023Pooled it
- Neuroprogression in post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review.Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapyPooled it
- Neural changes following equine-assisted therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: A longitudinal multimodal imaging study.Human brain mapping · 2021Trial
- Substance use involvement moderates the effect of cortisol response on white-matter microstructure longitudinally.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- The role of white matter microstructure in the association between childhood maltreatment and adult post-traumatic symptoms.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Racism and alterations in brain structure and function: A narrative review of emerging neuroimaging evidence in racialized individuals.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- Accelerated brain aging in Veterans with posttraumatic stress symptoms and mild traumatic brain injury.Neuroimage. Reports · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic insights into the co-occurring psychological symptoms and cardiovascular risks among military service members and veterans with mild traumatic brain injury: A LIMBIC-CENC study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- A Diagnosis Model of Typhoon-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Based on Fixel-Based Analysis in Machine Learning.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Neurobiological and psychological indicators of post-traumatic stress symptoms in children and adolescents treated for a posterior fossa brain tumour.Neuroimage. Reports · 2026Article
- Stress-related white matter microstructure alterations and chronic pain.Brain imaging and behavior · 2026Article
- White Matter Integrity in Women with Repetitive Traumatic Brain Injury due to Intimate Partner Violence.Journal of neurotrauma · 2025Article
- Risky family environment, white matter organization, and effective parenting in expectant fathers.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Childhood Adversity Is Associated With Longitudinal White Matter Changes After Adulthood Trauma.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Article
- Neuroactive steroids and the pathophysiology of PTSD: Biomarkers for treatment targeting.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- White matter correlates of dissociation in a diverse sample of trauma-exposed women.Psychiatry research · 2024Article
- White and Gray Matter Abnormality in Burning Mouth Syndrome Evaluated with Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging.Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine · 2024Article
- Early morning physical activity is associated with healthier white matter microstructure and happier children: the ActiveBrains project.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Brain connectivity disruptions in PTSD related to early adversity: a multimodal neuroimaging study.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
White matter plasticity occurs throughout life due to learning and can be a protective factor against as well as a vulnerability factor for the development of mental disorders. In this systematic review we summarize findings on structural white matter changes in children and adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and relate them to theoretical accounts of the pathophysiology of PTSD with a focus on the disturbed processing of contexts and associated problems in emotional and cognitive processing and PTSD symptomatology. We particularly examine studies reporting fractional anisotropy (FA) measured with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We further subdivided the studies in adult-onset PTSD with traumatic experience in adulthood, adult-onset PTSD with traumatic experience in childhood and children with PTSD. We included 30 studies comprising almost 1700 participants with 450 adults and 300 children suffering from PTSD. Our systematic review showed that for children with PTSD and adult-onset PTSD with childhood trauma, a decrease in FA in the corpus collosum, most prominently in the anterior and posterior midbody, the isthmus and splenium were reported. For adult-onset PTSD with traumatic experience in adulthood, changes in FA in the anterior and posterior part of the cingulum, the superior longitudinal fasciculus and frontal regions were found. Using GingerAle, we also performed a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 14 studies of adult-onset PTSD with traumatic experience in adulthood and did not find any significant clusters. Our results suggest that changes in white matter microstructure vary depending on traumatic experience and are associated with changes in brain circuits related to the processing of contexts. Finally, we present methodological considerations for future studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.