Journal
CLINICAL EEG AND NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 54, Issue 5, Pages 472-482Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/15500594211046703
Keywords
Posttraumatic stress disorder; frontal alpha asymmetry; electroencephalography; inhibitory control; prefrontal cortex
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study examined frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as a marker of approach- and avoidance-related prefrontal activity in individuals with and without trauma exposure and PTSD. The findings suggest dysfunctional prefrontal mechanisms of emotion regulation in PTSD, but adaptive prefrontal regulation in trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD.
The current study examined frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as a marker of approach- and avoidance-related prefrontal activity in participants with and without trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We investigated FAA in an inhibitory control paradigm (threatening vs nonthreatening cues) under 2 levels of cognitive demand (baseline: images constant within a block of trials; vs filtering: images varied randomly within a block) in 3 groups of participants: individuals with PTSD (n = 16), exposed to trauma but without PTSD (n = 14), and a control group without PTSD or trauma exposure (n = 15). Under low demand (baseline), both PTSD and trauma-exposed participants exhibited significantly greater relative left than right frontal brain activity (approach) to threatening than to nonthreatening images. Under high demand (filtering), no FAA differences were found between threatening and nonthreatening images, but PTSD participants revealed more relative left than right FAA, whereas trauma-exposed participants showed reduced left relative right FAA. In all conditions, healthy controls exhibited reduced left relative to right FAA and no differences between threatening and nonthreatening images. Study findings suggest dysfunctional prefrontal mechanisms of emotion regulation in PTSD, but adaptive prefrontal regulation in trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available