Sex differences in intrusive memories following trauma

<div><p>Background</p><p>A key mechanism thought to underlie Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is enhanced emotional memory consolidation. Recent evidence in healthy controls revealed that women have greater negative memory consolidation following stress relative to men. This study examined emotional memory consolidation in women and men with PTSD, and in trauma-exposed and non-trauma controls to test the hypothesis that emotionally negative memory consolidation would be greater in women with PTSD.</p><p>Method</p><p>One hundred and forty-seven men and women (47 with PTSD, 49 trauma-exposed controls, and 51 non-trauma controls) completed an emotional memory task where they looked at negative, neutral and positive images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Delayed recall and an intrusive memory diary were completed two days later.</p><p>Results</p><p>Women displayed greater recall, and reported more negative intrusive memories than men. A gender x group interaction effect showed that both women with PTSD and trauma-exposed women reported more intrusive memories than women without trauma exposure or men.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>This study provided preliminary evidence of sex differences in intrusive memories in those with PTSD as well as those with a history of trauma exposure. Future research should include measures of sex hormones to further examine sex differences on memory consolidation in the context of trauma exposure and PTSD.</p></div

Task and behavioral results.

<p>(A, B) Modified Dot-Probe Task, (C) Mean AB reaction time scores, (D) Pearson correlations between AB happy—AB angry difference and resilience, and (E-F) between AB scores and resilience.</p

Simple slope analyses explains interaction between AB happy and AB angry scores in predicting resilience.

<p>Low AB towards angry stimuli (dashed line) represents values of 1 SD below mean, high AB towards angry stimuli (continuous line) represents values of 1 SD above the mean.</p

Does napping enhance the effects of Cognitive Bias Modification-Appraisal training? An experimental study

<div><p>Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is characterised by dysfunctional appraisals of the trauma and its consequences including one’s own symptoms. Experimental studies have shown that Cognitive Bias Modification—Appraisal (CBM-App) training can reduce dysfunctional interpretations and analog trauma symptoms. One important question is how to enhance the effects of CBM-App. Following work suggesting that sleep has beneficial effects on consolidation processes and can thus improve learning, the present study investigated whether a brief period of sleep (i.e., a nap) enhances the effects of CBM-App. All participants watched a stressful movie as an analogue trauma induction. After that, participants received either positive or negative CBM-App training. Within each training, half of the participants then had a 90-minute nap or watched a neutral movie. Results showed that the CBM training induced training-congruent appraisals. Sleep did not enhance this effect. Participants who slept, however, experienced fewer intrusive memories of the analogue trauma, but this effect was independent of the CBM condition. These results provide valuable information about the effects of sleep during a 90-minute nap period on encoding of analogue trauma and emotional learning in the context of appraisal, and highlight the importance of sleep as a focus for continued research.</p></div

Changes in appraisal and intrusions at one-week follow-up.

<p>Changes in appraisal and intrusions at one-week follow-up.</p

Baseline and main outcome measures.

<p>Baseline and main outcome measures.</p

Flowchart procedure.

<p>Note: STAI-S: State Trait Anxiety Inventory—State; PTCI: Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory; ERT: Encoding Recognition Task; IES-R: Impact of Event Scale—Revised.</p

Comparing PTSD symptom networks in type I vs. type II trauma survivors

Background: Network analysis has gained increasing attention as a new framework to study complex associations between symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A number of studies have been published to investigate symptom networks on different sets of symptoms in different populations, and the findings have been inconsistent. Objective: We aimed to extend previous research by testing whether differences in PTSD symptom networks can be found in survivors of type I (single event; sudden and unexpected, high levels of acute threat) vs. type II (repeated and/or protracted; anticipated) trauma (with regard to their index trauma). Method: Participants were trauma-exposed individuals with elevated levels of PTSD symptomatology, most of whom (94%) were undergoing assessment in preparation for PTSD treatment in several treatment centres in Germany and Switzerland (n = 286 with type I and n = 187 with type II trauma). We estimated Bayesian Gaussian graphical models for each trauma group and explored group differences in the symptom network. Results: First, for both trauma types, our analyses identified the edges that were repeatedly reported in previous network studies. Second, there was decisive evidence that the two networks were generated from different multivariate normal distributions, i.e. the networks differed on a global level. Third, explorative edge-wise comparisons showed moderate or strong evidence for specific 12 edges. Edges which emerged as especially important in distinguishing the networks were between intrusions and flashbacks, highlighting the stronger positive association in the group of type II trauma survivors compared to type I survivors. Flashbacks showed a similar pattern of results in the associations with detachment and sleep problems (type II > type I). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that trauma type contributes to the heterogeneity in the symptom network. Future research on PTSD symptom networks should include this variable in the analyses to reduce heterogeneity. The current study aimed to investigate trauma type as a potential moderator of PTSD symptom networks, distinguishing between type I trauma (single event; sudden and unexpected, high level of acute threat) vs. type II trauma (repeated and/or protracted; anticipated) with regard to their index trauma.Findings suggest that the PTSD symptom network structure differs between type I and type II trauma survivors. Edges which emerged as especially important in distinguishing the networks were between intrusions and flashbacks, highlighting the stronger positive association in the group of type II trauma survivors compared to type I survivors. Flashbacks showed a similar pattern of results in the associations with detachment and sleep problems (type II > type I).Analysis revealed that trauma type contributes to the heterogeneity in the symptom network and it is important variable to consider in the future research. The current study aimed to investigate trauma type as a potential moderator of PTSD symptom networks, distinguishing between type I trauma (single event; sudden and unexpected, high level of acute threat) vs. type II trauma (repeated and/or protracted; anticipated) with regard to their index trauma. Findings suggest that the PTSD symptom network structure differs between type I and type II trauma survivors. Edges which emerged as especially important in distinguishing the networks were between intrusions and flashbacks, highlighting the stronger positive association in the group of type II trauma survivors compared to type I survivors. Flashbacks showed a similar pattern of results in the associations with detachment and sleep problems (type II > type I). Analysis revealed that trauma type contributes to the heterogeneity in the symptom network and it is important variable to consider in the future research.</p

Data_Sheet_1_Potential therapeutic effects of an ayahuasca-inspired N,N-DMT and harmine formulation: a controlled trial in healthy subjects.PDF

BackgroundThere is growing scientific evidence for the therapeutic benefits of the Amazonian plant-based psychedelic “ayahuasca” for neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, there are certain challenges when incorporating botanical ayahuasca into biomedical research and clinical therapy environments. Formulations inspired by ayahuasca, which contain specific and standardized active components, are a potential remedy.MethodsWe investigated subjective acute and persisting effects of a novel formulation containing the reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor harmine (orodispersible tablet containing 100 mg MAO-I) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (incremental intranasal dosing of up to 100 mg DMT), compared with two other conditions, namely harmine alone and placebo, in a crossover RCT in 31 healthy male subjects.ResultsDMT + harmine, but not harmine alone, induced a psychedelic experience assessed with the 5D-ASC rating scale [global score: F(2,60) = 80.21, p Discussion and ConclusionOur results suggest that the experience induced by the standardized DMT + harmine formulation induces a phenomenologically rich psychedelic experience, demonstrates good psychological safety and tolerability, is well tolerated, and induces beneficial psychological processes that could possibly support psychotherapy. Further studies are required to investigate the psychotherapeutic potential in patients.</p