title: Can premorbid episodes of diminished vagal tone be detected via histological markers in patients with PTSD?
abstract: While laboratory methods for estimating genetic susceptibility for adult psychopathology have received much recent attention, laboratory methods for objectively estimating a person's early autonomic nervous system perturbations have been under-researched. Research on heart rate variability suggests that early life episodes of diminished vagal tone may predict poor stress resilience in adults. This article will detail a research method for retrospectively estimating in adults the chronology of diminished vagal tone episodes experienced prior to age 10. This method makes use of the developing enamel matrix, one of very few tissues that cannot recover after being stressed.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Department of Veterans Affairs, Pacific Islands Health Care System, Spark M. Matsunaga Medical Center, 1132 Bishop Street, #307, Honolulu, HI 96813-2830, USA. h.brancha@med.va.gov
authors.forename: H Stefan
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bracha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000565:Ameloblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015415:Biomarkers; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010164:Paleopathology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000209:etiology*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers