Stressful events can have both short- and long-term effects on the brain. Our recent investigation identified short-term white\r\nmatter integrity (WMI) changes in 30 subjects soon after the Japanese earthquake. Our findings suggested that lower WMI in\r\nthe right anterior cingulum (Cg) was a pre-existing vulnerability factor and increased WMI in the left anterior Cg and uncinate\r\nfasciculus (Uf) after the earthquake was an acquired sign of postearthquake distress. However, the long-term effects on WMI\r\nremained unclear. Here, we examined the 1-year WMI changes in 25 subjects to clarify long-term effects on the WMI. We found\r\ndifferential FAs in the right anterior Cg, bilateral Uf, left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and left thalamus, suggesting that\r\nsynaptic enhancement and shrinkage were long-term effects. Additionally, the correlation between psychological measures related\r\nto postearthquake distress and the degree ofWMIalternation in the right anterior Cg and the leftUf led us to speculate that temporal\r\nWMI changes in some subjects with emotional distress occurred soon after the disaster. We hypothesized that dynamic WMI\r\nchanges predict a better prognosis, whereas persistently lowerWMIis amarker of cognitive dysfunction, implying the development\r\nof anxiety disorders.
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