Back to the Basics: The Role of the Reticular Activating System and the Autonomic Nervous System in PTSD and its Dissociative Subtype Background

Abstract

The reticular activating system (RAS) is a brainstem network that shapes the arousal state of an organism. The latter is closely tied to the function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is directly controlling peripheral functioning. A fine-tuned interaction between the central and the ANS facilitates innate, reflexive responding, which critically is thought to be perturbed in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).