Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive Control in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

描述（由申请人提供）：注意力中断是创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）最常见的报告和损害症状之一。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，其特征在于个体在从事认知要求高的任务时有效地管理分散注意力的情感突出信息的能力。目前，PTSD中认知控制异常的确切性质还不清楚，包括促进这些功能的神经机制。 在这个K23应用程序中，P.I.提出了一种多方法的方法，包括行为数据收集，功能磁共振成像和扩散张量成像（DTI），以调查个人与创伤后应激障碍的认知控制过程。她建议在功能磁共振成像中使用一种新的注意力控制任务，情感数字Stroop，以检查PTSD特定的任务表现和神经反应模式;该任务要求观众执行具有挑战性的认知任务，同时忽略唤起，通常与创伤相关的图片。她的研究的第一个目的是研究响应时间和任务准确性的组明智的差异，参与者与创伤相关的，积极的，中性的干扰。第二个目的是调查相应的模式的功能连接参与者从事这项任务。最后，扩散张量成像（DTI）将用于研究可能导致功能差异的白色连接中PTSD特异性异常;这是第三个目的。这三组数据可能揭示出不同的 PTSD个体特有的认知控制功能障碍模式;将检查任务执行期间行为和fMRI数据的组间差异，以及支持这些现象存在的白色物质结构的差异。成功识别PTSD中的认知控制异常及其神经机制，有能力为这种疾病的当前理论模型提供信息，以及针对这些问题的新颖的量身定制的干预措施。这个项目借鉴了P.I.她在神经心理学、创伤后应激障碍研究和神经影像学方法领域拥有优势，并在四年的培训中扩大了她的培训范围，包括对情感神经科学范式以及功能和结构连接方法的更深入的了解。在此期间，她从一个初级教师的位置上升到终身助理教授，PI。将获得必要的知识和技能，这将提高她的能力，产生方法健全，临床相关，研究创伤后应激障碍的神经心理学。

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.