title: Laboratory impulsivity and depression in blast-exposed military personnel with post-concussion syndrome.
abstract: In military populations, traumatic brain injury (TBI) also holds potential to increase impulsivity and impair mood regulation due to blast injury effects on ventral frontal cortex - to put military personnel at risk for suicide or substance abuse. We assessed a linkage between depression and impaired behavioral inhibition in 117 blast-exposed service members (SM) and veterans with post-concussion syndrome (PCS), where PCS was defined using a Rivermead Postconcussive Symptom Questionnaire (RPQ) modified to clarify whether each symptom worsened compared to pre-blast. Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) scores, PTSD Checklist 5 (PCL-5) scores, and RPQ raw subscale scores correlated positively with commission and perseverative errors on the continuous performance test II (CPT-II). In contrast, the number of RPQ symptoms ostensibly worsened post-blast did not correlate with impulsive errors on the CPT-II. These data replicate earlier findings that link increased affective symptomatology to impaired behavior inhibition in military TBI populations, but where additional effects on impulsivity from the blast itself remain equivocal.
authors.affiliation: Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. Electronic address: james.bjork@va.gov.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bjork
authors.affiliation: Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Burroughs
authors.affiliation: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.affiliation: Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Treven C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Pickett
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Sade E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Johns
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: F Gerard
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.affiliation: Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA; Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Richmond, VA, USA; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D038223:Post-Concussion Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Blast exposure; Commission errors; Concussion; Depression; Impulsivity; Military; Substance abuse; Suicide; Traumatic brain injury; Veteran