title: Attentional bias in post-traumatic stress disorder diminishes after symptom amelioration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Avoidance and hypervigilance to reminders of a traumatic event are among the main characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Attentional bias toward aversive cues in PTSD has been hypothesized as being part of the dysfunction causing etiology and maintenance of PTSD. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cognitive strategy underlying attentional bias in PTSD and whether normal cognitive processing is restored after a treatment suppressing core PTSD symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen healthy controls were matched for age, sex and education to 19 PTSD patients. We used the emotional stroop and detection of target tasks, before and after an average of 4.1 sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that on both tasks, patients were slower than controls in responding in the presence of emotionally negative words compared to neutral ones. After symptoms removal, patients no longer had attentional bias, and responded similarly to controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results support the existence of an attentional bias in PTSD patients due to a disengagement difficulty. There was also preliminary evidence that the disengagement was linked to PTSD symptomatology. It should be further explored whether attentional bias and PTSD involve common brain mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Mediterranean Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience (INCM, UMR 6193), CHU Timone Hospital, Marseille Cedex 5, France. myriam.khoury@gmail.com
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Khoury-Malhame
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lanteaume
authors.forename: Eva Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Beetz
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roques
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reynaud
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Samuelian
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blin
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khalfa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D057169:Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*