title: Intrusive trauma recollections is associated with impairment of interference inhibition and psychomotor speed in PTSD.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intrusive cognitions that enter consciousness involuntarily are prominent symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study aimed to identify neuropsychological mechanisms involved.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty PTSD outpatients and 50 healthy controls were tested using Finger Tapping, Simple and Choice Reaction Times and Stroop Tasks, to measure motor, psychomotor speed, response selection, and interference inhibition ability respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PTSD patients performed poorly in all tests, presumably owing to their generalized slowness of information processing and motor reaction. Psychomotor speed was a predictor of slowness and high error rate during the Stroop. Impaired inhibition, as measured by the interference index of the Stroop task, explained 9.7% of the predicated variance in frequency of re-experiencing PTSD symptoms and 23.5% of the predicated variance in augmentation of the interference response time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Impaired interference control may be related to internal (re-experiencing) and external (sensory) stimuli that leads to cognitive deficits in PTSD patients.
authors.affiliation: Beer-Yaakov Mental Health Center, Beer-Yaakov, Israel; Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Semion
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kertzman
authors.affiliation: Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel.
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avital
authors.affiliation: Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Research Unit, Geha Mental Health Center, and Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weizman
authors.affiliation: Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Flügelman's (Mazra) Mental Health Medical Center, Acre, Israel; Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center, Sha'ar Menashe, Israel. Electronic address: mdsegalpsy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*