Occupational Exposure Rather Than Trauma: Lower Occipital Gray Matter Volume in Underground Coal Miners Without PTSD or Other Psychiatric Diagnoses.

Underground coal mining involves extreme conditions such as inadequate lighting, chronic exposure to dust and toxic gases, and intense occupational stress. Cortical changes observed in miners have been addressed almost exclusively in the literature within the framework of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), neglecting the possibility that these changes may stem directly from environmental exposure independently of psychopathology. The potential for work-specific conditions such as prolonged dark work, insufficient daylight, and exposure to toxic dust to lead to structural brain changes even