CBT Repairs Brain Abnormalities in People with PTSD

Amy Taylor December 11, 2013

In a new study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers from the University of Szeged in Hungary reported that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or talk therapy may help improve the condition of individuals with PTSD by reducing the biological disturbances in the brain that resulted from trauma exposures.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. It can develop immediately after exposure to a disturbing event, or several weeks, months or years later. PTSD is estimated to affect about 1 in every 3 people who have a traumatic experience, but it isn’t clear why some trauma victims develop this condition and some don’t, according to the NHS.

For the study, the researchers assessed the clinical improvements of 39 individuals diagnosed with PTSD and compared them with that of 31 individuals (controls) who were exposed to trauma but did not develop PTSD. For 12 weeks, PTSD patients received cognitive behavioural therapy whilst the control group did not undergo any therapy at all. But prior this, and after the study period, the researchers measured the volumes of certain brain regions in all participants using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They also collected blood samples to measure changes in the expression of a specific gene, called FKBP5, which plays a role in regulating stress hormones, and of which high levels were linked to lower risk of PTSD.

Based on the initial MRI results, participants with PTSD had lower FKBP5 gene expression. They also had smaller hippocampal and medial orbitofrontal cortex volumes – parts of the brain involved in vital cognitive functions such as memory, emotion regulation and learning.

Surprisingly, at the end of the 12-week CBT programme, PTSD patients showed higher expression of FKBP5 and increased hippocampal volume. Most importantly, these changes were directly associated with clinical improvement among them.

These findings suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy helps with PTSD by mitigating biological disturbances in the brain that have most likely resulted from exposure to traumatic events. It also emphasise the importance of early intervention in the treatment of this debilitating disorder.

Sources of this article:

CBT May Repair PTSD Brain Alterations

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, NHS Choices