Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Control in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

描述(由申请人提供)：注意力障碍是创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)最常见和最严重的症状之一。这些问题可能反映了认知控制的异常，认知控制是一种结构，其特征是一个人在从事一项要求认知的任务时，能够有效地、高效地管理分散注意力的、情绪上突出的信息。目前，创伤后应激障碍中认知控制异常的确切本质尚不清楚，包括辅助这些功能的神经机制。在这项K23应用中，P.I.提出了一种多方法方法，包括行为数据收集、功能磁共振成像和扩散张量成像(DTI)，以研究患有和不患有创伤后应激障碍的个体的认知控制过程。她建议在功能磁共振成像过程中使用一种新颖的注意力控制任务--情感编号Stroop来检查创伤后应激障碍特定的任务表现和神经反应模式；这项任务要求观看者执行一项具有挑战性的认知任务，同时忽略唤起情绪的、通常与创伤相关的图片。她的研究的第一个目的是考察当参与者被呈现给与创伤相关的、积极的和中性的分心物体时，反应时间和任务准确性的组内差异。第二个目标是调查参与者参与这项任务时相应的功能连接模式。最后，弥散张量成像(DTI)将用于研究可能导致功能差异的白质连接中PTSD特有的异常；这是第三个目标。这三组数据可能揭示出不同的 我们将研究创伤后应激障碍患者特有的认知控制功能障碍的模式；任务执行过程中行为和功能磁共振数据的组间差异，以及支持这些现象存在的脑白质结构的差异。在创伤后应激障碍中成功识别认知控制异常及其神经机制，能够为目前这种障碍的理论模型以及针对这些问题的新的、量身定做的干预措施提供信息。这个项目利用了P.I.S在神经心理学、创伤后应激障碍研究和神经成像方法方面的优势，并在四年的时间里扩大了她的培训范围，包括提高她对情感神经科学范式以及功能和结构连接方法的知识。在这段时间里，随着她从初级教员职位上升到终身助理教授，P.I.将获得必要的知识和技能，这将增强她对创伤后应激障碍的神经心理学进行方法上的健全和临床相关的研究的能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attentional disruptions are among the most commonly-reported and impairing symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These problems may reflect abnormalities in cognitive control, a construct characterized by an individual's ability to effectively, and efficiently, manage distracting, emotionally-salient information while they engage in a cognitively-demanding task. Presently, the precise nature of cognitive control abnormalities in PTSD is not well-understood, including the neural mechanisms that subserve these functions. In this K23 application, the P.I. proposes a multi-method approach that includes behavioral data collection, fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to investigate cognitive control processes in individuals with and without PTSD. She proposes the use a novel attentional control task, the Affective Number Stroop, during fMRI to examine PTSD-specific patterns of task performance and neural response; this task requires the viewer to perform a challenging cognitive task while ignoring evocative, often trauma-relevant pictures. The first aim of her study is to examine group-wise differences in response time and task accuracy as participants are presented with trauma-related, positive, and neutral distractors. The second aim is to investigate corresponding patterns of functional connectivity as participants engage in this task. Finally, diffusion tensor Imaging (DTI) will be used to investigate PTSD-specific abnormalities in white matter connections that may contribute to functional differences; this represents the third aim. These three sets of data may reveal distinct patterns of cognitive control dysfunction that are unique to individuals with PTSD; between-group differences in behavioral and fMRI data during task performance will be examined, as well as differences in white matter structure that support the existence of these phenomena. The successful identification of cognitive control abnormalities and their neural mechanisms in PTSD has the power to inform current theoretical models of this disorder, as well as novel, tailored interventions that target these problems. This project draws on the P.I.'s strengths in th fields of neuropsychology, PTSD research, and neuroimaging methods, and expands her training over the course of four years to include an improved knowledge of affective neuroscience paradigms, as well as functional and structural connectivity methods. During this time, as she rises from a junior faculty position to tenured Assistant Professor, the P.I. will obtain the requisite knowledge and skills that will enhance her ability to produce methodologically-sound, and clinically-relevant, research on the neuropsychology of PTSD.