SUSTAINED AND SELECTIVE ATTENTION IN PTSD

注意力不集中和注意力不集中是最常见的 创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)患者的投诉。 这些困难可能以持续性问题的形式出现 注意力集中问题或以偏见的形式证明的注意力 在选择性注意方面，如过度警惕等症状所证明的那样。 虽然一些研究人员认为这些注意力障碍是 在普遍存在的性质上，其他人认为困难是选择性的 取决于内部状态和外部环境。该项目旨在 对持续和选择性注意进行多方法检查 使用自我报告、行为和事件相关电位(ERP)的创伤后应激障碍 措施。这项研究旨在调查两个因素，情感 激发和刺激新颖性，以及它们的独立性和潜在的 注意和注意力在创伤后应激障碍中的交互作用。建议数 研究源于基于最新信息处理的预测 该实验室正在进行的理论和目前的研究表明 情感启动与刺激新颖性对被试的影响 创伤后应激障碍患者适当分配注意力的能力。研究1将 调查90名被试在持续性注意和选择性注意方面的差异 暴露在战斗中的个人。分析将基于三个主要方面 群体：患有创伤后应激障碍和共病抑郁症的退伍军人，患有创伤后应激障碍的退伍军人和 共病焦虑，以及没有Axis I或Axis II诊断的退伍军人。学习 2将观察90名接触过病毒的人的这些差异 到一次机动车事故中谁会被分成这些 三组。这两项研究的参与者都将经历一系列的自我 具体报告测量、行为任务和ERP协议 对注意处理敏感的。所有这些措施都将得到落实 在情感互动产生的四种条件下 启动(中性与创伤相关的图像)和新颖性(熟悉 对小说)。这是我们的假设，患有创伤后应激障碍的人会透露 电生理和行为测量的反应模式 这表明增强了对新奇的、分散注意力的刺激的处理 在处理与任务相关的刺激时同时存在缺陷。这些 处于情感盛期的创伤后应激障碍患者的偏见会加剧 条件。这项工作将大大增加我们目前的知识 由于它的多方法评估，它的利用 编码的电生理指标及其可测性基础 信息处理理论。

Difficulties with attention and concentration are some of the most common complaints among individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These difficulties can came either in the form of problems with sustained attention as evidenced by concentration problems or in the form of biases in selective attention as evidenced by symptoms such as hypervigilance. While some investigators suggest that these attentional disturbances are pervasive in nature, others argue that the difficulties are selective and depend on internal states and external circumstances. This project aims to conduct a multi-method examination of sustained and selective attention in PTSD using self-report, behavioral, and event-related potential (ERP) measures. The study is designed to investigate two factors, affective priming and stimulus novelty, and their independent and potentially interactive affect of attention and concentration in PTSD. The proposed studies arise from predictions based on recent information processing theory and current research ongoing at this lab that suggest both affective priming and the stimulus novelty impact on an individual with PTSD's ability to allocate attention appropriately. Study 1 will investigate differences in sustained and selective attention in 90 individuals exposed to combat. Analyses will be based on three primary groups: veterans with PTSD and comorbid depression, veterans with PTSD and comorbid anxiety, and veterans with no Axis I or Axis II diagnosis. Study 2 will look at these differences in 90 individuals who have been exposed to a single motor vehicle accident who will be separated into these same three groups. Participants in both studies will undergo a series of self- report measures, behavioral tasks, and ERP protocols particularly sensitive to attentional processing. All these measures will be given under the four conditions that result from the interaction of affective priming (neutral versus trauma-relevant imagery) and novelty (familiar versus novel). It is our hypotheses that individuals with PTSD will reveal a pattern of responses across electrophysiological and behavioral measures that suggest an enhanced processing of novel, distracting stimuli with concurrent deficits in the processing of task-related stimuli. These biases will be exacerbated for subjects with PTSD in affective prime conditions. This work will add significantly to our current knowledge because of its multi-method assessment, it's utilization of electrophysiological indices of encoding, and its basis in testable information processing theory.