PTSD arousal and depression symptoms associated with increased right-sided parietal EEG asymmetry.
Researchers have proposed that depression and particular types of anxiety are associated with unique patterns of regional brain activation. The authors examined the relationship among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depressive symptoms and frontal, temporal, and parietal EEG alpha asymmetry in female Vietnam War nurse veterans. The results indicate that PTSD arousal symptoms are associated with increased right-sided parietal activation. However, the combination of arousal, depression, and their interaction explain more than twice the variance in parietal asymmetry compared with arousal alone. The results support the contention that the association between anxiety and right-sided posterior activation is specific to the anxious arousal subtype. These findings underscore the importance of isolating, both theoretically and statistically, emotional subcomponents in studies of regional brain activation.
Metzger
Linda J
LJ
Veterans Affairs Medical Center Research Service, Manchester, NH 03104, USA. linda_metzger@hms.harvard.edu
Paige
Stephen R
SR
Carson
Margaret A
MA
Lasko
Natasha B
NB
Paulus
Lynn A
LA
Pitman
Roger K
RK
Orr
Scott P
SP
D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology