Sensory overload and imbalance: Resting-state vestibular connectivity in PTSD and its dissociative subtype.
Sherain Harricharan, Andrew A Nicholson, Maria Densmore, Jean Théberge, Margaret C Mckinnon, Richard W.J. Neufeld, Ruth A. Lanius
Neuropsychologia November 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.09.010 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional, seed-based resting-state fMRI study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 141 |
| Population | Adults with PTSD, PTSD dissociative subtype, and healthy controls |
| Topics | PTSD |
| Keywords | Depersonalization Hypervigilance Interoception Parieto-insular vestibular cortex Posttraumatic stress disorder Vestibular nuclei |
| Citations | 64 |
| Key findings | Decreased functional connectivity between the vestibular nuclei and key cortical vestibular regions in the PTSD dissociative subtype compared to PTSD alone suggests that dysregulation of vestibular multisensory integration may contribute to dissociative symptoms. |
Abstract
The vestibular system integrates multisensory information to monitor one's bodily orientation in space, and is influenced by interoceptive awareness. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves typically alterations in interoceptive and bodily self-awareness evidenced by symptoms of hyperarousal, as well as of emotional detachment, including emotional numbing, depersonalization, and derealization. These alterations may disrupt vestibular multisensory integration between the brainstem (vestibular nuclei) and key vestibular cortical regions (parieto-insular vestibular cortex, prefrontal cortex). Accordingly, this study examined functional connectivity of the vestibular system in PTSD and its dissociative subtype. Using resting-state fMRI data in SPM12 and PickAtlas, a seed-based analysis was employed to examine vestibular nuclei functional connectivity differences among PTSD (n = 60), PTSD dissociative subtype (PTSD + DS, n = 41) and healthy controls (n = 40). Increased vestibular nuclei functional connectivity with the parieto-insular vestibular cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) was observed in PTSD and in controls as compared to PTSD + DS, and greater connectivity with the posterior insula was observed in controls as compared to PTSD. Interestingly, whereas PTSD symptom severity correlated negatively with dlPFC connectivity, clinical measures of depersonalization/derealization correlated negatively with right supramarginal gyrus connectivity. Taken together, decreased vestibular nuclei functional connectivity with key cortical vestibular regions in the PTSD + DS as compared to PTSD group, and its negative correlations with PTSD and dissociative symptoms, suggest that dysregulation of vestibular multisensory integration may contribute to the unique symptom profiles of each group. Further research examining disruption of vestibular system neural circuitry in PTSD and its dissociative subtype will be critical in capturing the neurophenomenology of PTSD symptoms and in identifying psychotherapeutic techniques that target dysfunction related to the vestibular system.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on PTSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A PILOT STUDY OF GROUP MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY (MBCT) FOR COMBAT VETERANS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) Veterans with chronic combat posttraumatic stress disorder seeking treatment at a VA... | 2013 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual comparison group | n = 37 |
| Resting‐state functional connectivity of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in post‐traumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype Adults with PTSD (n = 70), its dissociative subtype (n = 41), and healthy controls (n =... | 2017 | Cross-sectional resting-state fMRI study | n = 161 |
| Altered Sense of Body Ownership and Agency in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Its Dissociative Subtype: A Rubber Hand Illusion Study Adults with PTSD (n=4), PTSD with dissociative subtype (n=6), and healthy controls (n=7) | 2018 | Case-control experimental study | n = 17 |
| Superior colliculus resting state networks in post‐traumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype Adults with PTSD (n = 67), its dissociative subtype (n = 41), and healthy controls (n =... | 2017 | Observational cross-sectional resting-state fMRI study | n = 158 |
| Feasibility and effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for improving resilience, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and posttraumatic growth among military medical college students. Medical students at a military college | 2024 | Quasi-experimental with control group | n = 372 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A State-of-the-art Review. Current Neuropharmacology 2024
- Dissociative Symptoms and Interoceptive Integration. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2025
- Effects of a dissociative drug on fronto-limbic resting-state functional connectivity in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled pilot study. Psychopharmacology October 23, 2023
- Evidence of a hierarchical representation in bodily self-consciousness: the neural correlates of embodiment and presence in virtual worlds. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2025
- The Vestibulocerebellum and the Shattered Self: a Resting-State Functional Connectivity Study in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Its Dissociative Subtype Cerebellum September 19, 2022
and 4 more in the library
Cites 10
- Multisensory integration across exteroceptive and interoceptive domains modulates self-experience in the rubber-hand illusion Neuropsychologia August 28, 2013
- The Out-of-Body Experience: Disturbed Self-Processing at the Temporo-Parietal Junction The Neuroscientist January 4, 2005
- Visualizing Out-of-Body Experience in the Brain New England Journal of Medicine October 31, 2007
- The vestibular system: a spatial reference for bodily self-consciousness. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience April 17, 2014
- Personality changes in patients with vestibular dysfunction. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience October 29, 2013
and 5 more in the library