Electrophysiological studies of attention in trauma survivors

描述（由申请人提供）：心理创伤对人口的影响是显着的。研究表明，在美国，多达60.7%的男性和51.2%的女性在他们的生活中至少经历过一次极端的压力源或创伤事件。对于那些对创伤事件产生慢性反应的人来说，影响是相当大的。这些问题包括注意力方面的困难。报告的注意力问题的范围相当广泛，可以包括对环境中潜在威胁线索的注意力增加，难以维持对目标任务的注意力，或通常整合的注意力过程中断。这些不同的注意力问题在DSM-IV标准中被粗略地描述为“过度警觉”，“难以集中”和“分离”。本研究拟利用事件相关电位（ERPs）研究创伤后个体注意困难的神经生理学相关因素。研究设计：这项研究将在三年内进行，将涉及80名有创伤史的佛蒙特州社区成员的参与。所有参与者将接受全面的诊断评估，以评估创伤的程度和目前的精神病理学。诊断性评价之后将进行心理生理学评价，心理生理学评价将采用多种方法评价刺激处理，并利用自我报告测量、外周心理生理学测量（HR和SC）和ERP。两个ERP范式，（新奇P300和偶然的负变化）是特别敏感的注意过程将被用来评估的神经生理学相关的注意。目的：本提案的总体目标是采取创新方法来调查我们实验室的工作已经证明可能与创伤后注意力障碍相关的三个因素;解离，潜在威胁和分心。这些因素在很大程度上被忽视的文献中使用心理生理学的方法来了解创伤幸存者的注意力。心理生理学支持他们的作用，在注意过程中创伤后将有显着的临床和科学的相关性。公共卫生相关性：注意力和集中力方面的困难在经历过心理创伤的人中很常见。本研究将利用心理生理学的技术来探讨与这一人群的注意力障碍相关的因素。该研究的结果将与创伤相关疾病患者注意力困难的临床治疗和科学理解相关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The impact of psychological trauma on the population is significant. Research suggests that as many as 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women in America have been exposed to at least one extreme stressor or traumatizing event during the course of their lives. For those that develop chronic reactions to the traumatic events the impact is considerable. Among those concerns are difficulties with attention. The scope of reported attentional problems are quite broad and can include both increased attention to potentially threatening cues in the environment, difficulty sustaining attention on target tasks, or disruption in usually integrated attentional processes. These different attentional problems have been roughly captured in the DSM-IV criteria as "hypervigilance", "difficulty concentrating", and "dissociation". In this proposal with intend to use event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of attentional difficulties in traumatized individuals. Study Design: This study will occur over a three year period and will involve the participation of 80 members of the Vermont community with a history of trauma. All participants will undergo a thorough diagnostic evaluation to assess the extent of trauma and current psychopathology. The diagnostic evaluation will be followed by the psychophysiological evaluation which will take a multi-method approach to evaluate stimulus processing and utilize self-report measures, peripheral psychophysiological measures (HR and SC), and ERPs. Two ERP paradigms, (the novelty P300 and the contingent negative variation) that are particularly sensitive to attentional processes will be used to assess the neurophysiological correlates of attention. Objective: The overall objective of this proposal is take an innovative approach to investigate three factors that work from our lab has demonstrated are likely to be associated with attentional disturbances post-trauma; dissociation, potential threat, and distractibility. These factors have largely been ignored in the literature with respect to using psychophysiological approaches to understand attention in trauma survivors. Psychophysiological support for their role in the attentional processes post trauma would have significant clinical and scientific relevance. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Difficulties with attention and concentration are common among individuals who have experienced psychological trauma. This study will utilize psychophysiological techniques to investigate the factors associated with attentional disturbances in this population. Results of the study will have relevance to both the clinical treatment and scientific understanding of attentional difficulties in individuals with trauma related disorders.