PTSD Is Associated With Smaller Cerebellar Volumes

Background: Approximately 10% of trauma victims go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This has been associated with decreasing volumes of certain areas of the brain such as the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The cerebellum has been noted to be involved with higher-order cognition and emotion, and it is hypothesized that certain areas of the cerebellum may also be affected in PTSD. Objective: To evaluate cerebellar volumes in patients with PTSD to identify any areas of atrophy in these patients. Design: Mega-analysis. Methods: MRI scans from a total of 4215 individuals were obtained, including 1642 patients with a diagnosis of PTSD and 2573 control patients without PTSD. The control group comprised patients who had undergone trauma (88%) and those who had not (12%). Cerebellar segmentation was performed using a deep learning algorithm dividing the cerebellum into 28 subregions. Results: After adjustments m more...