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ABSTRACT: Using the event-related potential P3a component as a marker, the authors tested the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for reducing hyperarousability to specific threat stimuli in one Vietnam veteran with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who exhibited an exaggerated P3a response to combat-related pictures. Twenty minutes of 1-Hz rTMS to the right prefrontal area effected a reduction in the P3a amplitude, whereas similar rTMS to the left prefrontal area did not. In addition to providing evidence for the effectiveness of right frontal rTMS for an exaggerated response to trauma-related stimuli, this study provides electrophysiological corroboration of subjective reports of PTSD symptoms.
The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences 01/2011; 23(1):40-7. · 2.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the few psychiatric conditions in which a subjective decrease in emotional range serves as a diagnostic criterion. In order to investigate whether veterans with chronic PTSD also experienced objective limitations in emotional perception, the authors administered the Aprosodia Battery to a group of 11 veterans with chronic PTSD, nine subjects with right hemisphere damage, seven subjects with left hemisphere damage, and 12 comparison subjects. The patients with PTSD displayed significant deficiencies in the comprehension and discriminative components of affective speech, similar in severity and performance profile on the Aprosodia Battery to the individuals with focal right hemisphere damage due to ischemic infarction.
The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences 02/2009; 21(1):52-8. · 2.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The authors aim to delineate cognitive dysfunction associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by evaluating a well-defined cohort of former World War II prisoners of war (POWs) with documented trauma and minimal comorbidities. The authors studied a cross-sectional assessment of neuropsychological performance in former POWs with PTSD, PTSD with other psychiatric comorbidities, and those with no PTSD or psychiatric diagnoses. Participants who developed PTSD had average IQ, while those who did not develop PTSD after similar traumatic experiences had higher IQs than average (approximately 116). Those with PTSD performed significantly less well in tests of selective frontal lobe functions and psychomotor speed. In addition, PTSD patients with co-occurring psychiatric conditions experienced impairment in recognition memory for faces. Higher IQ appears to protect individuals who undergo a traumatic experience from developing long-term PTSD, while cognitive dysfunctions appear to develop with or subsequent to PTSD. These distinctions were supported by the negative and positive correlations of these cognitive dysfunctions with quantitative markers of trauma, respectively. There is a suggestion that some cognitive decrements occur in PTSD patients only when they have comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.
The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences 02/2008; 20(3):309-16. · 2.34 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Veterans diagnosed with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comparison subjects underwent single voxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) of the medial temporal lobe (MTL). PTSD subjects were divided into combat and non-combat groups based on military records. Combat PTSD subjects did not have lower MTL levels of N-acetylaspartate compared with non-combat PTSD subjects.
Psychiatry Research 11/2005; 140(1):91-4. · 2.52 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To determine the relationship between weight loss suffered by former prisoners of war during captivity during World War II and the Korean Conflict and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, the Clinician-Administered PTSD Symptom Scale, a lifetime stressor checklist, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV were administered to 102 former prisoners of war. Preconfinement and postconfinement weights and length of confinement were obtained from military medical records. Percentage of body weight lost during captivity was significantly higher in those subjects with PTSD and correlated with current PTSD symptom severity. Length of confinement was not associated with current PTSD symptoms.
Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease 05/2005; 193(4):278-80. · 1.68 Impact Factor
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Psychiatric Services 07/2003; 54(6):910-1. · 2.38 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: An important risk factor for suicide is psychiatric illness, but only a limited amount of work has been directed at assessing the use of firearms and other weapons by select psychiatric populations at high risk for violent acts.
Patients with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), patients with schizophrenia, and patients undergoing rehabilitation for substance abuse were asked to complete a weapons-use survey and measures of psychopathology.
The PTSD patients surveyed related owning more than four times as many firearms as other subjects and reported significantly higher levels of potentially dangerous firearm-related behaviors than the other psychiatric subjects surveyed.
High levels of aggression, impulsive and dangerous weapon use, and ready weapon availability may be significant factors in gun-related violence in the PTSD patient population. Additional prospective research is needed to determine whether gun ownership or certain types of weapon use in this population is associated with future acts of violence.
Southern Medical Journal 04/2003; 96(3):240-3. · 0.83 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Psychosensory symptoms have relevance to the study of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), given that their presence is associated with limbic system dysfunction and that several features of chronic PTSD suggest that it, too, may be associated with limbic dysfunction. The Iowa Interview for Partial Seizure-like Symptoms (IIPSS), a measure of psychosensory symptoms, was administered to a PTSD group and a comparison group. The PTSD group generated significantly higher IIPSS scores than did the other group. Within the PTSD group, higher IIPSS scores were associated with significantly more severe PTSD symptoms, dissociative symptoms, aggression, and overall psychopathology.
Journal of Neuropsychiatry 02/2002; 14(2):185-9. · 2.51 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Recent findings using volumetric MRI techniques have revealed that patients with combat-related and noncombat-re-lated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have reductions in right hippocampal volume. Twenty-one veterans with PTSD and eight age-matched control veterans were studied using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to test the hypothesis that the N-acetyl-L-aspartic acidkreatine (NAAICr) ratio would be decreased in the right medial temporal lobe structures of patients with PTSD compared to controls. Patients with PTSD displayed significantly lower NAA/Cr ratio for the right medial temporal lobe relative to the left (P ⩽ 0.011). Patients with PTSD also had lower NNCr in right medial temporal lobe (P ⩽ O.013) and lower choline/Cr in left medial temporal lobe (P ⩽ 0.030) compared to control subjects. Because NAA is regarded as an indicator of neuronal density, this finding suggests that the neuronal density of right-sided medial temporal structures in patients with combat-related PTSD may be decreased.
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 06/1998; 40(1):66 - 71. · 2.96 Impact Factor
