Functional neuroimaging of emotionally intense autobiographical memories in post-traumatic stress disorder.
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects regions that support autobiographical
memory (AM) retrieval, such as the hippocampus, amygdala and ventral medial prefrontal
cortex (PFC). However, it is not well understood how PTSD may impact the neural mechanisms
of memory retrieval for the personal past. We used a generic cue method combined with
parametric modulation analysis and functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate the neural
mechanisms affected by PTSD symptoms during the retrieval of a large sample of emotionally
intense AMs. There were three main results. First, the PTSD group showed greater recruitment
of the amygdala/hippocampus during the construction of negative versus positive emotionally
intense AMs, when compared to controls. Second, across both the construction and elaboration
phases of retrieval the PTSD group showed greater recruitment of the ventral medial
PFC for negatively intense memories, but less recruitment for positively intense memories.
Third, the PTSD group showed greater functional coupling between the ventral medial
PFC and the amygdala for negatively intense memories, but less coupling for positively
intense memories. In sum, the fMRI data suggest that there was greater recruitment
and coupling of emotional brain regions during the retrieval of negatively intense
AMs in the PTSD group when compared to controls.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdolescentAdult
Brain
Brain Mapping
Emotions
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory Disorders
Mental Recall
Neural Pathways
Neuropsychological Tests
Oxygen
Photic Stimulation
Psychometrics
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Vocabulary
Young Adult
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9776Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.10.011Publication Info
St Jacques, Peggy L; Botzung, Anne; Miles, Amanda; & Rubin, David C (2011). Functional neuroimaging of emotionally intense autobiographical memories in post-traumatic
stress disorder. J Psychiatr Res, 45(5). pp. 630-637. 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2010.10.011. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9776.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
David C. Rubin
Juanita M. Kreps Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
For .pdfs of all publications click here My main research interest has been in
long-term memory, especially for complex (or "real-world") stimuli. This work includes
the study of autobiographical memory and oral tra

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