Altered functional connectivity between cortical networks associated with inhibitory control in trauma-exposed females

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with impaired inhibitory control and alterations in large-scale brain network connectivity. However, few studies to date have examined the construct of inhibitory control as it relates to resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in a population with PTSD or trauma-exposure. The present study investigated the relationship between impaired inhibitory control and rsFC within the default mode network (DMN), central executive network (CEN), and salience network (SN) in a sample of females exposed to interpersonal trauma with and without PTSD (n = 67). Participants completed a classic Color-Word Stroop task as a measure of inhibitory control and two resting-state fMRI scans. We conducted voxelwise rsFC analyses with seed regions in the DMN, CEN, and SN and voxelwise linear regression analyses to examine the relationship between inhibitory control and rsFC of these networks across the sample. Better Stroop performance was negatively associated with total self-reported PTSD symptoms. An analysis of PTSD symptom clusters indicated that better Stroop performance was also associated with re-experiencing and hyperarousal symptoms, but not avoidance PTSD symptoms. Decreased coupling between the CEN and the DMN was associated with better inhibitory control in this sample of trauma-exposed females. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that efficient switching between these networks may contribute to better performance on cognitive and attentional tasks in trauma-exposed individuals.