Event-related potential dysfunction in posttraumatic stress disorder: the role of numbing

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between disturbance in event-related potentials (ERPs) and symptom clusters in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ERPs were recorded in 17 unmedicated civilian PTSD patients and 17 age- and sex-matched controls during a conventional auditory oddball task. PTSD symptom clusters (re-experiencing, active avoidance, numbing, hyperarousal) were correlated with ERP measures. The PTSD group showed ERP disturbances to target stimuli (reduced P200 and P300 and increased N200 amplitude, increased N200 and P300 latency) and reduced P200 amplitude to common stimuli compared to the control group. A significant negative correlation was found between the intensity of numbing symptoms and parietal P300 amplitude. This study replicates findings of disturbed N200 and P300 components in PTSD, reflecting impairments in stimulus discrimination and attention. The finding that numbing was associated with reduced attention processing (P300) is consistent with models positing a relationship between disordered arousal and attention in PTSD.

[1]  I. Reinvang,et al.  Event-related potentials to stimuli with emotional impact in posttraumatic stress patients , 1998, Biological Psychiatry.

[2]  W. Ray,et al.  Handbook of dissociation: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical perspectives. , 1996 .

[3]  J. Polich,et al.  Cognitive and biological determinants of P300: an integrative review , 1995, Biological Psychology.

[4]  C. Richard Clark,et al.  Abnormal stimulus processing in posttraumatic stress disorder , 1993, Biological Psychiatry.

[5]  George Fein,et al.  Sensory gating in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: reduced auditory p50 suppression in combat veterans , 1999, Biological Psychiatry.

[6]  S. Taylor,et al.  The structure of posttraumatic stress symptoms. , 1998, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[7]  R. McCarley,et al.  Event-related potentials in schizophrenia: their biological and clinical correlates and new model of schizophrenic pathophysiology , 1991, Schizophrenia Research.

[8]  Interest of Events‐Related Potentials in Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder , 1997, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[9]  S. Orr,et al.  Auditory Event-Related Potentials to Tone Stimuli in Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder , 1997, Biological Psychiatry.

[10]  D Friedman,et al.  A brain event related to the making of a sensory discrimination. , 1979, Science.

[11]  Dennis S. Charney,et al.  A CLINICIAN RATING SCALE FOR ASSESSING CURRENT AND LIFETIME PTSD: THE CAPS-1 , 1990 .

[12]  E. Blanchard,et al.  A confirmatory factor analysis of posttraumatic stress symptoms. , 1998, Behaviour research and therapy.

[13]  M. Ansseau,et al.  P300 in posttraumatic stress disorder. , 1995, Neuropsychobiology.

[14]  E. Foa,et al.  Emotional Dissociation in Response to Trauma An Information-Processing Approach , 1996 .

[15]  B. Litz,et al.  Information processing in anxiety disorders: Application to the understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder , 1989 .

[16]  C. Spielberger,et al.  Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory , 1970 .

[17]  E. Halgren,et al.  Generators of the late cognitive potentials in auditory and visual oddball tasks. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[18]  E. Donchin,et al.  Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating? , 1988, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[19]  E. Blanchard,et al.  Information processing and PTSD: a review of the empirical literature. , 2000, Clinical psychology review.

[20]  M. Kimble,et al.  Stimulus novelty differentially affects attentional allocation in PTSD , 2000, Biological Psychiatry.

[21]  A. Bleich,et al.  Event-related potentials in post-traumatic stress disorder of combat origin , 1996, Biological Psychiatry.

[22]  E Donchin,et al.  A metric for thought: a comparison of P300 latency and reaction time. , 1981, Science.

[23]  W. Pritchard.  Psychophysiology of P300. , 1981, Psychological bulletin.

[24]  R. Näätänen.  The role of attention in auditory information processing as revealed by event-related potentials and other brain measures of cognitive function , 1990, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[25]  R. Johnson.  A triarchic model of P300 amplitude. , 1986, Psychophysiology.

[26]  E Donchin,et al.  A new method for off-line removal of ocular artifact. , 1983, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[27]  S. Orr,et al.  Prospective study of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression following trauma. , 1998, The American journal of psychiatry.

[28]  L. Kolb.  A neuropsychological hypothesis explaining posttraumatic stress disorders. , 1987, The American journal of psychiatry.

[29]  Ray Johnson.  For Distinguished Early Career Contribution to Psychophysiology: Award Address, 1985 , 1986 .

[30]  D. Kaloupek,et al.  Emotional processing in posttraumatic stress disorder. , 2000, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[31]  M. Stanford,et al.  Impact of threat relevance on P3 event-related potentials in combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder , 2001, Psychiatry Research.

[32]  Christian Grillon,et al.  Abnormal mismatch negativity in women with sexual assault-related posttraumatic stress disorder , 1999, Biological Psychiatry.

[33]  E. Foa,et al.  Arousal, numbing, and intrusion: symptom structure of PTSD following assault. , 1995, The American journal of psychiatry.

[34]  L. Schiebinger,et al.  Commentary on Risto Naatanen (1990). The role of attention in auditory information processing as revealed by event-related potentials and other brain measures of cognitive fenctiono BBS 13s201-2888 , 1991 .