title: Autonomic and cortical reactivity in acute and chronic posttraumatic stress.
abstract: This study investigated attention (P300 amplitude) and orienting (skin conductance amplitude) to auditory tones in a standard oddball task in early trauma-exposed groups (Acute Stress Disorder: ASD) (n=12) or no ASD (n=13), compared to individuals with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (n=17) and non-trauma-exposed controls (n=17). Individuals with ASD displayed significantly higher SCR and P3 amplitudes to target tones than individuals with PTSD, non-traumatized controls, and traumatized controls. These findings suggest that attention and orienting responses are greater to neutral, task-relevant target tones in ASD than PTSD and traumatized and non-traumatized controls.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. kfelmingham@psy.unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Kim L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Felmingham
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.forename: Evian
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bryant
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004569:Electroencephalography; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence; D055815:Young Adult