title: Impaired right inferior frontal gyrus response to contextual cues in male veterans with PTSD during response inhibition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often associated with impaired fear inhibition and decreased safety cue processing; however, studies capturing the cognitive aspect of inhibition and contextual cue processing are limited. In this fMRI study, the role of contextual cues in response inhibition was investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male medication-naive war veterans with PTSD, male control veterans (combat controls) and healthy nonmilitary men (healthy controls) underwent fMRI while performing the stop-signal anticipation task (SSAT). The SSAT evokes 2 forms of response inhibition: reactive inhibition (outright stopping) and proactive inhibition (anticipation of stopping based on contextual cues).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 28 veterans with PTSD, 26 combat controls and 25 healthy controls in our study. Reduced reactive inhibition was observed in all veterans, both with and without PTSD, but not in nonmilitary controls, whereas decreased inhibition of the left pre/postcentral gyrus appeared to be specifically associated with PTSD. Impaired behavioural proactive inhibition was also specific to PTSD. Furthermore, the PTSD group showed a reduced right inferior frontal gyrus response during proactive inhibition compared with the combat control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most patients with PTSD had comorbid psychiatric disorders, but such comorbidity is common in patients with PTSD. Also, the education level (estimate of intelligence) of participants, but not of their parents, differed among the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings of reduced proactive inhibition imply that patients with PTSD show reduced contextual cue processing. These results complement previous findings on fear inhibition and demonstrate that contextual cue processing in patients with PTSD is also reduced during cognitive processes, indicating a more general deficit.
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht and the Research Centre, Military Mental Healthcare, Ministry of Defence, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sanne J H
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: van Rooij
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht and the Research Centre, Military Mental Healthcare, Ministry of Defence, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arthur R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Rademaker
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht and the Research Centre, Military Mental Healthcare, Ministry of Defence, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mitzy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kennis
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Matthijs
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vink
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: René S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht and the Research Centre, Military Mental Healthcare, Ministry of Defence, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elbert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Geuze
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D015897:Comorbidity; D004522:Educational Status; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014728:Veterans