Effects of Trauma Timing on Prospective PTSD Development

Abstract

A key feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disruption of HPA axis feedback sensitivity and cortisol levels. Despite the known regulation of the HPA axis by circadian mechanisms, there has been little exploration of the circadian timing of the index trauma and consequent cortisol release. Stress-related glucocorticoid influx has been shown to shift clocks in peripheral organs but not the suprachiasmatic nucleus, desynchronizing the central and peripheral clocks.