This project is the first large-scale international effort to investigate the neurobiology of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). While CPTSD is increasingly recognised as distinct from PTSD, its underlying brain mechanisms remain largely unknown due to limited sample sizes and lack of harmonised data across studies.
This collaboration between The University of Queensland and Emory University integrates data from the ENIGMA-PTSD consortium with the Australian Trauma Biobank, enabling analyses across thousands of trauma-exposed individuals worldwide. Using advanced neuroimaging approaches, including cortical morphometry and along-tract white matter analyses, the project examines whether CPTSD is associated with distinct patterns of brain structure and connectivity compared to PTSD.
By harmonising clinical measures across international cohorts and applying scalable analysis pipelines, the study aims to identify robust neurobiological markers of CPTSD. These findings will contribute to improved diagnosis, inform targeted treatments, and establish a global research framework for trauma-related disorders.