Research Project
7629682
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Memory and attentional processes are commonly affected by trauma, yet their neural and behavioral correlates in relation to trauma are poorly understood. The proposed research capitalizes our access to a group of individuals who shared experience of a single traumatic event, allowing us to examine the effects of this event and individual differences in response to this event with an unusual amount of experimental control. Our studies will examine how emotional trauma attendant to near loss of life changes memory and attention, and the relationship of these of changes to other key variables, such as the presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A central question in PTSD concerns the fact that some individuals develop the disorder whereas others do not in response to the same traumatic event. The proposed research will address this issue eliminating variance due to the event itself and by using extensive neurobehavioral, psychiatric, and neuroimaging data to systematically examine variables that dissociate PTSD and non-PTSD groups. Moreover, using well-validated measures of autobiographical memory and attention developed in our laboratory, we plan to examine the behavioral correlates of altered attentional and memory function in these groups. Additional studies will address the functional neuroanatomy of autobiographical memory and attention in participants with and without PTSD and controls using measures sensitive to emotional influences on these processes. Understanding the neural and behavioral correlates of memory and attentional processing following trauma at a more basic level is likely to yield benefits in increased scientific knowledge, and also translate to improvements in the design of treatment interventions focusing on these processes and their altered functioning. RELEVANCE TO PUBLIC HEALTH: The mental and behavioral consequences of trauma affect scores of North Americans, yet the mechanisms of these effects, including the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are poorly understood. These projects will explore the effects of trauma on brain functioning and behavior using a sample of individuals who nearly lost their lives in an airline disaster, allowing a unique opportunity to study the effects of trauma in people who experienced the same event.
