Smaller Global and Regional Cortical Volume in Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Cerebral cortical volume, thickness, and area may be smaller in adult chronic severe PTSD; however, the extracted structural variables did not mediate relations between intelligence and PTSD. The 4 regions exhibiting especially smaller cortical volumes in this sample share involvement in mechanisms subserving "top-down" facilitation of the identification of objects and words. Compromise of these regions may result in difficulty in relearning pretrauma schemata for interpreting the civilian physical and social environments.