Shared clinical and neural features of PTSD, dissociative disorders, and limbic epilepsy: a narrative review
- 1Laboratory of Optical Biomedical Science, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
- 2Emeritus Director General, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
The phenomenological closeness of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative disorders has been re-emphasized in recent diagnostic nomenclature, but their common neural pathogenesis is not yet clarified. Moreover, conventional neuroimaging studies have been observational, making it fundamentally difficult to establish causal relationships between abnormalities in specific brain regions and clinical symptoms. Here, we reviewed psychiatric symptoms in human limbic epilepsy, PTSD and dissociative disorders, together with findings from animal studies of limbic circuits, in order to explore causal links between limbic dysfunction and symptoms resembling those of PTSD and dissociative disorders. In human limbic epilepsy, epileptogenic activity arises within limbic-centered networks involving regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala and cingulate cortices, providing a clinical condition in which psychiatric symptoms can be linked to relatively identifiable neural disturbances. These symptoms overlap with key clinical domains of PTSD and dissociative disorders, including intrusive or altered memories, affective dysregulation, depersonalization/derealization, disturbances of consciousness and functional motor phenomena. This overlap raises the possibility that abnormal limbic activity may contribute to similar symptoms in PTSD and dissociative disorders. Animal studies further suggest that experimental manipulation of limbic structures and related circuits can produce PTSD-like and dissociation-like phenomena. Therefore, human limbic epilepsy and animal studies of limbic circuits complement observational neuroimaging studies by offering a framework for examining possible causal links between limbic dysfunction and PTSD- and dissociation-like symptoms.
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BibTeX
@article{yokoyama2026shared,
title = {{Shared clinical and neural features of PTSD, dissociative disorders, and limbic epilepsy: a narrative review}},
author = {Tatsushi Yokoyama and Yoshiharu Kim},
journal = {Neurobiology of Stress},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ynstr.2026.100860},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2026.100860},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Shared clinical and neural features of PTSD, dissociative disorders, and limbic epilepsy: a narrative review
AU - Tatsushi Yokoyama
AU - Yoshiharu Kim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Neurobiology of Stress
DO - 10.1016/j.ynstr.2026.100860
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynstr.2026.100860
AB - The phenomenological closeness of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative disorders has been re-emphasized in recent diagnostic nomenclature, but their common neural pathogenesis is not yet clarified. Moreover, conventional neuroimaging studies have been observational, making it fundamentally difficult to establish causal relationships between abnormalities in specific brain regions and clinical symptoms. Here, we reviewed psychiatric symptoms in human limbic epilepsy, PTSD and dissociative disorders, together with findings from animal studies of limbic circuits, in order to explore causal links between limbic dysfunction and symptoms resembling those of PTSD and dissociative disorders. In human limbic epilepsy, epileptogenic activity arises within limbic-centered networks involving regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala and cingulate cortices, providing a clinical condition in which psychiatric symptoms can be linked to relatively identifiable neural disturbances. These symptoms overlap with key clinical domains of PTSD and dissociative disorders, including intrusive or altered memories, affective dysregulation, depersonalization/derealization, disturbances of consciousness and functional motor phenomena. This overlap raises the possibility that abnormal limbic activity may contribute to similar symptoms in PTSD and dissociative disorders. Animal studies further suggest that experimental manipulation of limbic structures and related circuits can produce PTSD-like and dissociation-like phenomena. Therefore, human limbic epilepsy and animal studies of limbic circuits complement observational neuroimaging studies by offering a framework for examining possible causal links between limbic dysfunction and PTSD- and dissociation-like symptoms.
SN - 2352-2895
ER -