Abstract
This study is the first to explore spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We investigated the connection between the magnitude of flanker interference in PTSD participants and sEBR during performance on a modified version of the Eriksen flanker task. As a peripheral measure of cognitive control and dopaminergic function, sEBR may illuminate the relationship between PTSD and executive function. Findings revealed a positive relationship between sEBR and flanker interference in participants diagnosed with PTSD, to both threat-related and neutral stimuli, whereas this relationship was negative in participants exposed to trauma but without PTSD and in healthy controls. Although our results are suggestive of sEBR as a potential physiological index of emotional management in PTSD, most of the correlations were not significant, indicating that further research with a larger sample is needed.
Highlights
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affecting between 3.6% and 9.7% of the general population [1], is a traumatic stress-related disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and memories of traumatic events, avoidance of thoughts and feelings associated with the trauma, emotional numbing, and an amplified vigilance and alertness to environmental triggers following exposure to a life-threatening stressor
The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between working memory and inhibitory control of attentional interference in (a) individuals with PTSD; (b) individuals with trauma exposure but no PTSD (TE); and (c) healthy controls (HCs) with neither trauma exposure nor PTSD
We found that Spontaneous Eye Blink Rate (sEBR) in participants diagnosed with PTSD was associated positively with flanker interference: Participants evinced a higher blink rate as the difference in RT between congruent and incongruent stimuli increased in the face of both threatening and non-threatening International Affective Picture System (IAPS) images
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affecting between 3.6% and 9.7% of the general population [1], is a traumatic stress-related disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and memories of traumatic events, avoidance of thoughts and feelings associated with the trauma, emotional numbing, and an amplified vigilance and alertness to environmental triggers following exposure to a life-threatening stressor. Results of neuropsychological tests reveal compromise to executive control functions in PTSD patients, working memory (ability to maintain recent experiences in memory) and inhibitory control (ability to suppress task-irrelevant memories and experiences) [2,3,4,5]. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between working memory (as indexed by spontaneous eye blink rate; sEBR) and inhibitory control of attentional interference (as measured by behavioral performance on the temporal flanker paradigm) in (a) individuals with PTSD;. The relationships between sEBR and attentional interference in PTSD and TE participants may help clarify underlying attentional processes that are thought to result from trauma exposure. Brain Sci. 2017, 7, 16; doi:10.3390/brainsci7020016 www.mdpi.com/journal/brainsci.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
