Processing of threat-related information in rape victims.

We investigated selective processing of threat information in persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by using a modified Stroop Color and Word Test. Ss were 15 rape victims with PTSD, 13 rape victims without the disorder, and 16 nontraumatized control Ss. They were asked to name the color of 4 types of words: specific threat (rape-related) words, general threat (related to physical harm and death) words, neutral words, and nonwords. Rape victims with PTSD evidenced a longer response latency for color naming of rape-related words than for other target-word types. Response latencies of non-PTSD victims and nonvictim control Ss did not differ across word types. Possible mechanisms underlying the selective processing of threat material are considered, and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specificity of Stroop interference in patients with pain and PTSD.

The authors investigated processing of threat words in motor vehicle accident survivors using a modified Stroop procedure. Three samples were included: 28 participants with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain, 26 participants with pain without PTSD, and 21 participants without pain or any psychiatric conditions. Four word categories were used: (a) accident words, (b) pain words, (c) positive words, and (d) neutral words. This study examined whether processing biases would occur to accident words only in participants with PTSD or if these biases would also be noted in the No PTSD/Pain sample. Additionally, this study examined whether processing biases would be noted to pain words in the 2 pain samples, irrespective of PTSD. Overall, color naming was significantly slower in the PTSD/Pain group in comparison with the other groups. As well, the PTSD/Pain sample showed significant response delays to both accident and pain-related words, whereas patients with No PTSD/Pain showed delays to pain stimuli only. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhanced Priming for Trauma-Related Material in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Intrusive reexperiencing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to perceptual priming for trauma-related material. A prospective longitudinal study (N = 69) investigated perceptual priming for trauma-related, general threat, and neutral words in assault survivors with and without PTSD, using a new version of the word-stem completion task. Survivors with PTSD showed enhanced priming for trauma-related words. Furthermore, priming for trauma-related words measured soon after the trauma was associated with subsequent PTSD severity at 3, 6, and 9 months. The enhanced priming effect was specific to trauma-related words. Enhanced perceptual priming for traumatic material appears to be one of the cognitive processes operating in PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing threatening information in posttraumatic stress disorder.

The authors used a modified Stroop task to study how people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) process threatening information. Participants were motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors with either PTSD (n?=?15), simple phobia of driving (n?=?15), or low anxiety (n?=?15). Participants named colors of 4 types of words: strong threat words (MVA related), mild threat words (MVA related), positive words, and neutral words. Participants with PTSD demonstrated greater interference on strong threat words than those with simple phobia or low anxiety. Contrary to expectation, participants with simple phobia did not display an interference effect. Findings suggest that individuals with PTSD and simple phobia may process threatening information differently. The nature of attentional bias in different anxiety conditions following trauma is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Couple adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in National Guard veterans of the Iraq war.

Relationship adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were assessed across two time points in a sample of 313 married or partnered National Guard soldiers recently returned from combat duty in Iraq. Structural equation modeling using a four-factor model for PTSD found the latent variable dysphoria (reflecting generalized distress including aspects of emotional numbing and arousal) had the strongest independent contribution to predicting relationship adjustment at Time 1 and indirectly predicted poorer relationship adjustment at Time 2. Exploratory analysis of gender differences (n = 33 women; n = 280 men) suggested a different pattern of relations between PTSD factors and relationship adjustment among female soldiers at Time 1, with a trend toward trauma specific avoidance being more highly related to relationship adjustment. Clinical and research implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of the novel antipsychotic drug amperozide and its metabolite FG5620 with central nervous system receptors and monoamine uptake sites: relation to behavioral and clinical effects

Veterans with (n = 10) and without (n = 10) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) participated in an exploratory study of facial reactivity to neutral slides and to slides depicting unpleasant combat-related material that were previously determined to be emotionally evocative. It was found that the zygomaticus major (cheek), masseter (jaw), and lateral frontalis (forehead) muscles were especially reactive to the combat slides in the veterans with PTSD, suggesting the importance of facial emotional expression in this disorder. The PTSD participants' self-reports of overall distress paralleled these effects. However, autonomic reactivity did not reflect general arousal effects due to the visual stimuli, showing both the sensitivity of facial muscle assessment in this context and the need for further research on the relationship between stimulus modality and physiological trauma reactions. Additional directions for research in this area are discussed including efforts to correlate subjective and physiological reactions.     

Emotional-Processing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder II: Startle Reflex Modulation During Picture Processing.

This study examined the impact of a trauma-related stressor on subsequent emotional behavior in veterans with (n = 35) and without (n = 24) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Self-report and physiological responses, including acoustic startle, were recorded during viewing of emotionally evocative photographs at baseline and following exposure to trauma-related and non-trauma-related stressors. The 2 groups exhibited equivalent patterns of emotional response across self-report and physiological measures at baseline. In contrast, following the trauma challenge, participants with PTSD showed a pattern of startle modulation suggestive of greater defensive reactivity and reduced visual perceptual engagement. These findings, along with augmented corrugator EMG reactivity during the same interval, suggest that trauma-related reexperiencing primes subsequent negative emotional responding in individuals with PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arousal, numbing, and intrusion: symptom structure of PTSD following assault

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated hypotheses concerning the importance of symptoms of numbing in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: Symptoms of PTSD were assessed in 72 female rape victims and 86 female victims of nonsexual assault approximately 3 months after the crimes occurred. A principal-components factor analysis of subjects' symptoms was then undertaken. RESULTS: The analysis yielded three factors: arousal/avoidance, numbing, and intrusion. These were somewhat different from the symptom clusters in DSM-III-R, since effortful avoidance and numbing symptoms did not load on the same factor. Numbing symptoms appeared to be particularly important in identifying individuals with PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: The results imply that there are two patterns of posttrauma symptoms, one characterizing PTSD and the second characterizing a phobic reaction.     

Conceptual and perceptual priming and dissociation in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder.

Cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assert that memory processes play a significant role in PTSD (see e.g., Ehlers & Clark, 2000). Intrusive reexperiencing in PTSD has been linked to perceptual processing of trauma-related material with a corresponding hypothesized lack of conceptual processing. In an experimental study that included clinical participants with and without PTSD (N = 50), perceptual priming and conceptual priming for trauma-related, general threat, and neutral words were investigated in a population with chronic trauma-induced complaints as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The study used a new version of the word-stem completion task (Michael, Ehlers, & Halligan, 2005) and a word-cue association task. It also assessed the role of dissociation in threat processing. Further evidence of enhanced perceptual priming in PTSD for trauma stimuli was found, along with evidence of lack of conceptual priming for such stimuli. Furthermore, this pattern of priming for trauma-related words was associated with PTSD severity, and state dissociation and PTSD group made significant contributions to predicting perceptual priming for trauma words. The findings shed light on the importance of state dissociation in trauma-related information processing and posttraumatic symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder.

A cognitive theory of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is proposed that assumes traumas experienced after early childhood give rise to 2 sorts of memory, 1 verbally accessible and 1 automatically accessible through appropriate situational cues. These different types of memory are used to explain the complex phenomenology of PTSD, including the experiences of reliving the traumatic event and of emotionally processing the trauma. The theory considers 3 possible outcomes of the emotional processing of trauma, successful completion, chronic processing, and premature inhibition of processing. We discuss the implications of the theory for research design, clinical practice, and resolving contradictions in the empirical data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.

The emotional deficits associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are the least understood and the most understudied aspect of the syndrome. In this study, the connection was evaluated between trauma-context reactivity and subsequent emotional deficits in PTSD. Combat veterans with PTSD and well-adjusted veteran control participants were exposed to reminders of combat, after which their emotional behavior was assessed in response to a series of emotionally evocative images. Under the neutral condition, both groups exhibited emotional behavior modulated by stimulus valence. Partially consistent with the conceptual model described by B. Litz (1992), the PTSD group exhibited suppressed expressive-motor responses to positively valenced images, in comparison with the control group, only after being exposed to a trauma-related prime. Contrary to expectations, the PTSD group showed no augmentation of emotional response to negatively valenced cues after being exposed to trauma reminders. However, the PTSD group responded to all images, in both prime conditions, with higher heart rate reactivity, suggesting an automatic preparation for demand or threat in any uncertain emotional context. Possible causes and consequences of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Source memory enhancement for emotional words.

The influence of emotional stimuli on source memory was investigated by using emotionally valenced words. The words were colored blue or yellow (Experiment 1) or surrounded by a blue or yellow frame (Experiment 2). Participants were asked to associate the words with the colors. In both experiments, emotionally valenced words elicited enhanced free recall compared with nonvalenced words; however, recognition memory was not affected. Source memory for the associated color was also enhanced for emotional words, suggesting that even memory for contextual information is benefited by emotional stimuli. This effect was not due to the ease of semantic clustering of emotional words because semantically related words were not associated with enhanced source memory, despite enhanced recall (Experiment 3). It is suggested that enhancement resulted from facilitated arousal or attention, which may act to increase organization processes important for source memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncontrollability and unpredictability in post-traumatic stress disorder: An animal model.

The disturbances observed in animals subjected to unpredictable and uncontrollable aversive events resemble posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and thus may constitute an animal model of this disorder. It is argued that the similarity between animals' symptoms and those of trauma victims may reflect common etiological factors. Relevant experiments in which animals exhibit generalized fear and arousal, discrete fear of a CS, analgesia, and avoidance are reviewed with the view that these manifestations may be analogous to the PTSD symptom clusters of persistent arousal, reexperiencing, numbing, and avoidance, respectively. Finally, animal paradigms are suggested to test the validity of the model, and specific hypotheses are derived from the animal literature regarding trauma variables that are predictive of particular PTSD symptom clusters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective processing of visual alcohol cues in abstinent alcoholics: an approach-avoidance conflict?

When symptomatic individuals selectively attend to emotionally relevant stimuli, the ability to shift attention away from such material is impaired. Subjects may, however, seek to avoid further processing of these stimuli, which would facilitate attentional shifts. This was examined in a group of abstinent alcoholics' responses to stimuli related to alcohol. Eight alcohol and eight neutral words served as cues in a covert attention task. The cues were either valid (2/3 of trials) or invalid (1/3 of trials) indicators of where a response target would appear after 100 or 500 milliseconds. The short interval was expected to interact with an initial approach toward the alcohol word, while the long interval would interact with a subsequent avoidance of the stimulus. As predicted, the alcoholics showed slower reaction times (RTs) to targets invalidly cued by alcohol words in the short interval, reflecting increased difficulties to shift attention. However, the alcoholics demonstrated faster RTs to targets invalidly cued by the alcohol words in the long interval. This indicates that the alcohol cue elicited emotional associations that, subsequent to initial stimulus identification, trigger an interrupting function of the attentional system.     

Regional brain electrical activity in posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accident.

This study examined whether patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) would show an abnormal pattern of electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetries, which has been proposed for particular types of anxiety. Patients with PTSD (n = 22) or subsyndromal PTSD (n = 21), traumatized controls without PTSD (non-PTSD with MVA; n = 21), and healthy controls without MVA (n = 23) underwent measurement of EEG activity during baseline and exposure to a neutral, a positive, a negative, and an accident-related picture. Differences in brain asymmetry between groups were observed only during exposure to trauma-related material. PTSD and subsyndromal PTSD patients showed a pattern of enhanced right anterior and posterior activation, whereas non-PTSD with MVA participants showed the opposite pattern. Furthermore, posterior asymmetry in nontraumatized healthy controls varied with gender, with female participants showing a pattern of higher right posterior activation. The results support the hypothesis that symptomatic MVA survivors are characterized by a pattern of right hemisphere activation that is associated with anxious arousal and symptoms of PTSD during processing of trauma-specific information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

PTSD Arousal and Depression Symptoms Associated With Increased Right-Sided Parietal EEG Asymmetry.

Researchers have proposed that depression and particular types of anxiety are associated with unique patterns of regional brain activation. The authors examined the relationship among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depressive symptoms and frontal, temporal, and parietal EEG alpha asymmetry in female Vietnam War nurse veterans. The results indicate that PTSD arousal symptoms are associated with increased right-sided parietal activation. However, the combination of arousal, depression, and their interaction explain more than twice the variance in parietal asymmetry compared with arousal alone. The results support the contention that the association between anxiety and right-sided posterior activation is specific to the anxious arousal subtype. These findings underscore the importance of isolating, both theoretically and statistically, emotional subcomponents in studies of regional brain activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall of associates generated to emotionally toned stimulus words.

Suggests that an explanation for differential recall can be found without recourse to an arousal model. Four experiments were conducted with 200 college students. Exp 1 replicated the findings of E. B. Jones et al (1987) that Ss show poor recall of associates to emotional words. Exp 2 showed that reducing the number of emotionally toned stimulus words in the word list resulted in an improvement in recall for associates generated to these words. In Exp 3, recall for associates generated to emotionally toned stimulus words was poorer if the stimulus words were similar in meaning than if they were dissimilar. Exp 4 found that stimulus word properties other than emotionality could be manipulated to demonstrate a differential recall. Results are explained in terms of the inability of the retrieval system to discriminate among competing sets of responses that are semantically and emotionally congruent. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhanced priming for trauma-related words predicts posttraumatic stress disorder.

There is preliminary evidence that enhanced priming for trauma-related cues plays a role in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A prospective study of 119 motor vehicle accident survivors investigated whether priming for trauma-related stimuli predicts PTSD. Participants completed a modified word-stem completion test comprising accident-related, traffic-related, general threat, and neutral words at 2 weeks post-trauma. Priming for accident-related words predicted PTSD at 6 months follow-up, even when initial symptom levels of PTSD and depression and priming for other words were controlled. The results are in line with the hypothesis that enhanced priming for traumatic material contributes to the development of chronic PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)