Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.

Over the past decade, research on the aftereffects of stressful or traumatic events has emphasized the negative outcomes from these experiences. However, the positive outcomes deriving from adversity are increasingly being examined, and such positive changes are described as posttraumatic growth (PT...

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Main Authors: Takashi X Fujisawa, Minyoung Jung, Masahiko Kojima, Daisuke N Saito, Hirotaka Kosaka, Akemi Tomoda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4546237?pdf=render
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author Takashi X Fujisawa
Minyoung Jung
Masahiko Kojima
Daisuke N Saito
Hirotaka Kosaka
Akemi Tomoda
author_facet Takashi X Fujisawa
Minyoung Jung
Masahiko Kojima
Daisuke N Saito
Hirotaka Kosaka
Akemi Tomoda
author_sort Takashi X Fujisawa
collection DOAJ
description Over the past decade, research on the aftereffects of stressful or traumatic events has emphasized the negative outcomes from these experiences. However, the positive outcomes deriving from adversity are increasingly being examined, and such positive changes are described as posttraumatic growth (PTG). To investigate the relationship between basal whole-brain functional connectivity and PTG, we employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and analyzed the neural networks using independent component analysis in a sample of 33 healthy controls. Correlations were calculated between the network connectivity strength and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) score. There were positive associations between the PTGI scores and brain activation in the rostral prefrontal cortex and superior parietal lobule (SPL) within the left central executive network (CEN) (respectively, r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.49, p < 0.001). Individuals with higher psychological growth following adverse experiences had stronger activation in prospective or working memory areas within the executive function network than did individuals with lower psychological growth (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). Moreover, we found that individuals with higher PTG demonstrated stronger connectivity between the SPL and supramarginal gyrus (SMG). The SMG is one of the brain regions associated with the ability to reason about the mental states of others, otherwise known as mentalizing. These findings suggest that individuals with higher psychological growth may have stronger functional connectivity between memory functions within the CEN and social functioning in the SMG, and that their better sociality may result from using more memory for mentalizing during their daily social interactions.
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spelling doaj.art-a1f77ff84e31481da7c288528e3e89c52022-12-21T23:54:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01108e013642710.1371/journal.pone.0136427Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.Takashi X FujisawaMinyoung JungMasahiko KojimaDaisuke N SaitoHirotaka KosakaAkemi TomodaOver the past decade, research on the aftereffects of stressful or traumatic events has emphasized the negative outcomes from these experiences. However, the positive outcomes deriving from adversity are increasingly being examined, and such positive changes are described as posttraumatic growth (PTG). To investigate the relationship between basal whole-brain functional connectivity and PTG, we employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and analyzed the neural networks using independent component analysis in a sample of 33 healthy controls. Correlations were calculated between the network connectivity strength and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) score. There were positive associations between the PTGI scores and brain activation in the rostral prefrontal cortex and superior parietal lobule (SPL) within the left central executive network (CEN) (respectively, r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.49, p < 0.001). Individuals with higher psychological growth following adverse experiences had stronger activation in prospective or working memory areas within the executive function network than did individuals with lower psychological growth (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). Moreover, we found that individuals with higher PTG demonstrated stronger connectivity between the SPL and supramarginal gyrus (SMG). The SMG is one of the brain regions associated with the ability to reason about the mental states of others, otherwise known as mentalizing. These findings suggest that individuals with higher psychological growth may have stronger functional connectivity between memory functions within the CEN and social functioning in the SMG, and that their better sociality may result from using more memory for mentalizing during their daily social interactions.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4546237?pdf=render
spellingShingle Takashi X Fujisawa
Minyoung Jung
Masahiko Kojima
Daisuke N Saito
Hirotaka Kosaka
Akemi Tomoda
Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.
PLoS ONE
title Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.
title_full Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.
title_fullStr Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.
title_full_unstemmed Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.
title_short Neural Basis of Psychological Growth following Adverse Experiences: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study.
title_sort neural basis of psychological growth following adverse experiences a resting state functional mri study
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4546237?pdf=render
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