Biological Correlates of Traumatic Stress

描述（由申请人提供）：这是J.道格拉斯布雷姆纳医学博士在面向患者的研究（K24）中的中期职业研究者奖的申请，以促进他的研究事业，并使他能够在创伤压力的生物相关性领域为初级研究人员提供指导。申请人的研究已经将脑成像应用于创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的研究，使用磁共振成像（MRI）显示PTSD中海马体积较小，并且使用正电子发射断层扫描（PET）显示PTSD中涉及内侧前额叶皮质、海马和杏仁核的神经回路的改变。申请人的其他研究应用了显示5-羟色胺再摄取抑制剂（SSRI）促进神经发生（其被应激抑制）的动物发现，以显示SSRI导致海马体积增加5%和基于海马的陈述性记忆功能改善30%。目前的研究正在使用功能磁共振成像研究神经相关的词汇表学习范式和回忆的创伤性记忆与早期虐待的历史。申请人在进行研究方面非常富有成效，近年来高级作者出版物的数量有所增加;他现在想改变重点，花更多的时间指导初级教师和学员。神经影像科学培训计划（TPINS），埃默里大学神经科学研究生课程和其他资源，包括疾病控制中心（CDC），行为神经科学中心和耶基斯地区灵长类动物中心，代表了研究和学员发展的绝佳机会。埃默里大学有一种学院和协作的氛围，为学员创造了极好的体验。埃默里大学在美国排名前25位的大学中，少数民族学生和教师的比例最高，为少数民族提供了一个极好的培训机会。申请人提供的指导将提供一批重要的新的调查人员，以进行创伤性压力的生物相关性领域的下一代研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for a Mid-Career Investigator Award in Patient Oriented Research (K24) for J. Douglas Bremner, M.D., to enhance his research career and to allow him to provide mentoring to junior investigators in the area of biological correlates of traumatic stress. Studies by the applicant have applied brain imaging to the study of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show smaller hippocampal volume in PTSD, and positron emission tomography (PET) to show alterations in a neural circuit involving medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala in PTSD. Other studies by the applicant applied animal findings showing that serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) promote neurogenesis (which is inhibited by stress) to show that SSRIs result in a 5% increase in hippocampal volume and 30% improvement in hippocampal-based declarative memory function. Current studies are using fMRI to study neural correlates of a word list learning paradigm and recall of traumatic memories with a history of early abuse. The applicant has been very productive in performing research and in recent years has had an increase in the number of senior author publications; he now would like to change focus and spend more time mentoring junior faculty and trainees. The Training Program in Neuroimaging Sciences (TPINS), Graduate Program in Neuroscience at Emory, and other resources, including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, and Yerkes Regional Primate Center, represent excellent opportunities for research and the development of trainees. There is a collegial and collaborative atmosphere at Emory that creates as excellent experience for trainees. Emory University has the highest proportion of minority students and faculty of any of the top 25 universities in the US, offering an excellent opportunity for training in an area particularly relevant for minorities. The mentoring provided by the applicant will provide an important new crop of investigators to conduct the next generation of research in the field of biological correlates of traumatic stress.