Differences in Regional Cerebral Blood Flow for Females and Males with Elevated Self-Reported PTSD Symptoms

Abstract Objective: Females and males may differ in stress responses which suggests different brain reactivity between genders in PTSD. This study compares baseline regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) between females and males with elevated PTSD symptoms. Method: Females [n = 383; Mage=37.51; white (65%)] and males [n=389; Mage=36.37; white (65%)] with elevated self-reported PTSD symptoms (2SD over the mean) were selected from a deidentified adult clinical outpatient database. No significant differences existed between genders for race or age. ANOVAs were utilized to test the difference between females and males’ baseline rCBF levels. Those with comorbid diagnosis were included. Alpha was set at .001. Results: Females had significantly lower bilateral perfusion in the frontal [left: F(1,770)=17.173; right: F(1,770)=49.496], occipital [left: F(1,770)=88.897; right: F(1,770)=144.190], temporal [left: F(1,770)=11.594; right: F(1,770)=58.005], cerebellum [left: F(1,770)=121.549 right: F(1,770)=138.506] and right parietal lobe [F(1,770)=42.303]. Males had significantly lower bilateral perfusion in limbic system [left: F(1,770)=228.628; right: F(1,770)=211.896], basal ganglia [left: F(1,770)=234.383; right: F(1,770)=138.506], left motor sensory [F(1,770)=31.459], and vermis region of the brain [F(1,770)=51.637]. No differences were found in right motor sensory or left parietal regions. Conclusion: Given the large effects males exhibited in the limbic and basal ganglion regions, males may struggle with emotional regulation, memory, and motor control due to dysfunction in these regions. Females may struggle with dizziness, aspects of executive functioning, processing language and emotions, and difficulty processing visual information due to depravation in the frontal, temporal, occipital and cerebellum regions. Limitations included lack of specificity to trauma and the utilization of a self-report measure to define PTSD symptoms.