Neural correlates of reexperiencing, avoidance, and dissociation in PTSD: Symptom dimensions and emotion dysregulation in responses to script-driven trauma imagery

Research suggests that responses to script‐driven trauma imagery in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include reexperiencing and dissociative symptom subtypes. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study employed a dimensional approach to characterizing script‐driven imagery responses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of traumatic stress 2007-10, Vol.20 (5), p.713-725
Main Authors: Hopper, James W., Frewen, Paul A., van der Kolk, Bessel A., Lanius, Ruth A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Brain - physiology
Emotions
Female
Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology
Humans
Imagination - physiology
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Mental Recall - physiology
Middle Aged
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
United States
Wounds and Injuries
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Summary:Research suggests that responses to script‐driven trauma imagery in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) include reexperiencing and dissociative symptom subtypes. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study employed a dimensional approach to characterizing script‐driven imagery responses, using the Responses to Script‐Driven Imagery Scale and correlational analyses of relationships between severity of state posttraumatic symptoms and neural activation. As predicted, state reexperiencing severity was associated positively with right anterior insula activity and negatively with right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC). Avoidance correlated negatively with rACC and subcallosal anterior cingulate activity. In addition, as predicted, dissociation correlated positively with activity in the left medial prefrontal and right superior temporal cortices, and negatively with the left superior temporal cortex. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed, particularly with respect to an emotion‐dysregulation account of PTSD.
ISSN:0894-9867
1573-6598
DOI:10.1002/jts.20284