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Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees

The current study investigated differences in the regional gray matter (GM) volume of specific thalamic nuclei between North Korean (NK) refugees and South Korean (SK) residents. It also investigated associations between thalamic GM volume changes and psychological symptoms. Psychological evaluation...

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Autores principales: Lee, Jiye, Kim, Nambeom, Jeong, Hyunwoo, Jun, Jin Yong, Yoo, So Young, Lee, So Hee, Lee, Jooyoung, Lee, Yu Jin, Kim, Seog Ju
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9095986/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35573348
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.756202
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author Lee, Jiye
Kim, Nambeom
Jeong, Hyunwoo
Jun, Jin Yong
Yoo, So Young
Lee, So Hee
Lee, Jooyoung
Lee, Yu Jin
Kim, Seog Ju
author_facet Lee, Jiye
Kim, Nambeom
Jeong, Hyunwoo
Jun, Jin Yong
Yoo, So Young
Lee, So Hee
Lee, Jooyoung
Lee, Yu Jin
Kim, Seog Ju
author_sort Lee, Jiye
collection PubMed
description The current study investigated differences in the regional gray matter (GM) volume of specific thalamic nuclei between North Korean (NK) refugees and South Korean (SK) residents. It also investigated associations between thalamic GM volume changes and psychological symptoms. Psychological evaluations and magnetic resonance imaging were conducted on 50 traumatized NK refugees and 55 non-traumatized SK residents. The regional GM volume ratios in the bilateral thalami were calculated for all participants using voxel-based morphometry. NK refugees showed greater GM volume ratios in the right medial-posterior nuclei and left medial nuclei compared with SK residents. NK refugees also exhibited more depressive symptoms than SK residents. However, increased GM volume ratios in both right medial-posterior nuclei and left medial nuclei were correlated with fewer depressive symptoms in NK refugees, but not in SK residents. The findings indicate that traumatized NK refugees had increased GM volumes in the right medial-posterior nuclei and left medial nuclei, which were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. The enlarged specific thalamic nuclei presented among refugees in the current study might be associated with a neurobiological compensatory mechanism that prevents the development or progression of depression in refugees after repetitive traumatic experiences.
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spelling pubmed-90959862022-05-13 Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees Lee, Jiye Kim, Nambeom Jeong, Hyunwoo Jun, Jin Yong Yoo, So Young Lee, So Hee Lee, Jooyoung Lee, Yu Jin Kim, Seog Ju Front Psychiatry Psychiatry The current study investigated differences in the regional gray matter (GM) volume of specific thalamic nuclei between North Korean (NK) refugees and South Korean (SK) residents. It also investigated associations between thalamic GM volume changes and psychological symptoms. Psychological evaluations and magnetic resonance imaging were conducted on 50 traumatized NK refugees and 55 non-traumatized SK residents. The regional GM volume ratios in the bilateral thalami were calculated for all participants using voxel-based morphometry. NK refugees showed greater GM volume ratios in the right medial-posterior nuclei and left medial nuclei compared with SK residents. NK refugees also exhibited more depressive symptoms than SK residents. However, increased GM volume ratios in both right medial-posterior nuclei and left medial nuclei were correlated with fewer depressive symptoms in NK refugees, but not in SK residents. The findings indicate that traumatized NK refugees had increased GM volumes in the right medial-posterior nuclei and left medial nuclei, which were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. The enlarged specific thalamic nuclei presented among refugees in the current study might be associated with a neurobiological compensatory mechanism that prevents the development or progression of depression in refugees after repetitive traumatic experiences. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9095986/ /pubmed/35573348 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.756202 Text en Copyright © 2022 Lee, Kim, Jeong, Jun, Yoo, Lee, Lee, Lee and Kim. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Lee, Jiye
Kim, Nambeom
Jeong, Hyunwoo
Jun, Jin Yong
Yoo, So Young
Lee, So Hee
Lee, Jooyoung
Lee, Yu Jin
Kim, Seog Ju
Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees
title Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees
title_full Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees
title_fullStr Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees
title_full_unstemmed Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees
title_short Gray Matter Volume of Thalamic Nuclei in Traumatized North Korean Refugees
title_sort gray matter volume of thalamic nuclei in traumatized north korean refugees
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9095986/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35573348
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.756202
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