FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BRAIN USING FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI) FOR ACUTE STRESS AND POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) MONITORING NEUROPLASTICITY

1 . A method of monitoring how a person with PTSD responds to emotional stimuli to create a classifier to distinguish healthy controls from PTSD (emotion processing for PTSD) based on fMRI functional brain dynamics, comprising:

using an MRI scanner and an fMRI sequence to functionally image whole brain function within individuals who are viewing images of different classes of facial expressions;

modeling individual brain responses to each class of facial expression via general linear modeling in an event related design;

calculating dynamic functional connectivity changes within a network of brain regions as a function of different classes of facial expressions images;

generating as characteristic features the functional connectivity dynamics induced by viewing each class of facial expression; and

using a machine learning classifier to create an emotion processing for PTSD classifier tool usable to compare and differentiate individuals based on the characteristic features reflecting the functional connectivity dynamic changes to enable a practitioner to differentiate and identify individuals with PTSD, and individuals who have undergone neurological change following severe or prolonged stress exposure from otherwise healthy individuals by reference to the characteristic features.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the brain regions include at least one of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways (VVP & DVP), limbic/paralimbic system (LPS), lateral genituclate nucleus (LGN) and prefrontal cortex (PFC).

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the functional connectivity comprises functional connectivity within at least one of the visual pathways, thalamic, limbic/paralimbic and prefrontal brain networks.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein functional connectivity based classifiers are sensitive to stress associated change within:

vulnerable but otherwise healthy individuals who following extreme or prolonged stress exposure;

highly anxious individuals; and

individuals with PTSD.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the different classes of facial expressions include stress-inducing images and non-stress-inducing images.

6 . A system for creating a PTSD emotion processing classifier for enabling the detection of stress-induced effects in functional brain dynamics within individuals using fMRI measurements during viewing of images of different facial expressions, the system comprising:

an MRI scanner and an fMRI sequence to functionally image whole brain function within the individuals during a facial expression viewing task of different classes of visual images;

a processor to (i) create a general linear model of individual brain responses to each class of visual image;

(ii) calculate functional connectivity dynamic changes within a network of brain regions as a function of different classes of visual images;

(iii) generate characteristic features reflecting functional connectivity dynamics induced by viewing of different facial expressions; and

a machine learning classifier to create a PTSD emotion processing classifier tool usable to compare and differentiate individuals based on characteristic features reflecting functional connectivity dynamic changes, to enable a practitioner to differentiate and identify individuals with PTSD, and individuals who have undergone neurological change following severe or prolonged stress exposure from otherwise healthy individuals by reference to characteristic features.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the brain regions include at least one of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways (VVP & DVP), limbic/paralimbic systems (LPS), lateral genituclate nucleus (LGN) and prefrontal cortex (PFC).

8 . The system of claim 6 wherein the functional connectivity comprises functional connectivity within at least one of the visual pathways, thalamic, limbic/paralimbic and prefrontal brain networks.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein functional connectivity based classifiers are sensitive to stress associated change within:

vulnerable but otherwise healthy individuals who following extreme or prolonged stress exposure;

highly anxious individuals; and

individuals with PTSD.

10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the different classes of facial expressions include stress-inducing images and non-stress-inducing images.

11 . A method of enabling a practitioner to detect stress-induced effects to an individual from exposure to stress events, using fMRI, to detect whether an individual has PTSD, or acute stress disorder the method comprising:

using an MRI scanner to obtain first fMRI images of selected regions of the brain of the individual while subjecting an individual to a potential stress causing event; and

using a classifier to compare the first fMRI images obtained to second fMRI images obtained from individuals exposed to normal or happy events, to enable a practitioner to determine whether the first fMRI images detect functional connectivity between selected regions of the brain indicative of the individual having PTSD, or acute stress disorder.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the selected regions of the brain include at least one of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways (VVP & DVP), limbic/paralimbic system (LPS), lateral genituclate nucleus (LGN) and prefrontal cortex (PFC).

13 . The method of claim 11 wherein the functional connectivity comprises functional connectivity within at least one of the visual pathways, thalamic, limbic/paralimbic and prefrontal brain networks.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the magnitude of the change in functional connectivity enables a practitioner to determine whether the individual has PTSD, or acute stress disorder.

15 . A system of enabling a practitioner to detect stress-induced effects to an individual from exposure to stress events, using fMRI, to detect whether an individual has PTSD, or acute stress disorder, the system comprising:

an MRI scanner to obtain first fMRI images of selected regions of the brain of the individual while subjecting an individual to a potential stress causing event; and

a classifier to compare the first fMRI images obtained to second fMRI images obtained from individuals exposed to normal or happy events, to enable a practitioner to determine whether the first fMRI images detect functional connectivity between selected regions of the brain indicative of the individual having PTSD, or acute stress disorder.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the selected regions of the brain include at least one of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways (VVP & DVP), limbic/paralimbic system (LPS), lateral genituclate nucleus (LGN) and prefrontal cortex (PFC).

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the functional connectivity comprises functional connectivity within at least one of the visual pathways, thalamic, limbic/paralimbic and prefrontal brain networks.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the magnitude of the change in functional connectivity enables a practitioner to determine whether the individual has PTSD, or acute stress disorder.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the potential stress causing event is an image of a person under stress.