Biological Correlates of Traumatic Stress

描述（由申请人提供）：这是一份为J. Douglas Bremner, m.d.申请患者导向研究（K24）中期职业研究者奖的申请，以提高他的研究生涯，并允许他在创伤应激生物学相关领域为初级研究者提供指导。申请人的研究将脑成像应用于创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的研究，使用磁共振成像（MRI）显示创伤后应激障碍的海马体积较小，使用正电子发射断层扫描（PET）显示创伤后应激障碍中涉及内侧前额皮质，海马和杏仁核的神经回路的改变。申请人的其他研究应用了动物研究结果，显示血清素再摄取抑制剂（SSRIs）促进神经发生（受压力抑制），表明SSRIs导致海马体积增加5%，海马基于陈述性记忆功能改善30%。目前的研究是利用功能磁共振成像来研究单词表学习范式和早期受虐史的创伤记忆的神经相关性。申请人的研究成果丰硕，近年来发表的资深作者论文数量有所增加；他现在想改变重点，花更多时间指导初级教员和学员。神经成像科学培训计划（TPINS）、埃默里大学神经科学研究生计划以及其他资源，包括疾病控制中心（CDC）、行为神经科学中心和耶基斯区域灵长类动物中心，为受训人员的研究和发展提供了极好的机会。埃默里大学的学院和合作氛围为学员创造了绝佳的体验。在美国排名前25位的大学中，埃默里大学（Emory University）的少数族裔学生和教师比例最高，这为少数族裔提供了绝佳的培训机会。申请人提供的指导将为开展创伤应激生物学相关领域的下一代研究提供重要的新一代研究人员。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for a Mid-Career Investigator Award in Patient Oriented Research (K24) for J. Douglas Bremner, M.D., to enhance his research career and to allow him to provide mentoring to junior investigators in the area of biological correlates of traumatic stress. Studies by the applicant have applied brain imaging to the study of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show smaller hippocampal volume in PTSD, and positron emission tomography (PET) to show alterations in a neural circuit involving medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala in PTSD. Other studies by the applicant applied animal findings showing that serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) promote neurogenesis (which is inhibited by stress) to show that SSRIs result in a 5% increase in hippocampal volume and 30% improvement in hippocampal-based declarative memory function. Current studies are using fMRI to study neural correlates of a word list learning paradigm and recall of traumatic memories with a history of early abuse. The applicant has been very productive in performing research and in recent years has had an increase in the number of senior author publications; he now would like to change focus and spend more time mentoring junior faculty and trainees. The Training Program in Neuroimaging Sciences (TPINS), Graduate Program in Neuroscience at Emory, and other resources, including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, and Yerkes Regional Primate Center, represent excellent opportunities for research and the development of trainees. There is a collegial and collaborative atmosphere at Emory that creates as excellent experience for trainees. Emory University has the highest proportion of minority students and faculty of any of the top 25 universities in the US, offering an excellent opportunity for training in an area particularly relevant for minorities. The mentoring provided by the applicant will provide an important new crop of investigators to conduct the next generation of research in the field of biological correlates of traumatic stress.