Psychophysiologic Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Imagery in Vietnam Combat Veterans

Pitman, Roger K.; Orr, Scott P.; Forgue, Dennis F.; Jong, Jacob B. de; Claiborn, James M.

doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1987.01800230050009

Cited by 682 publications

(568 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…In the first session, screening measurements of blood pressure and heart rate were taken with the OMRON after three rest periods of 4 min, as well as a baseline measure of heart rate and SCL during a 4-min continuous measurement period. During this first session, a personalized script was prepared in 15 min (according to methodology of Bremner et al 1999;Pitman et al 1987). Participants were asked to write down a negative disturbing event that still triggered emotional feelings of anxiety, anger, or fear on a script preparation form in the present tense.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychophysiological responding to emotional memories in healthy young men after cortisol and propranolol administration

et al. 2009

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Rationale Propranolol is found to reduce physiological hyper-responsiveness in post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), possibly by affecting reconsolidation after the reactivation of traumatic memories. Cortisol is found to attenuate declarative memory retrieval, but it is unknown whether it also reduces physiological responses to emotional memories. Objectives To examine whether the effects of propranolol on physiological responding to emotional memories can also be found in healthy controls and to investigate the immediate and prolonged effects of cortisol on physiological responding to emotional memories, we tested these effects in 79 healthy young men. Materials and methods After preparing a script of a negative disturbing memory, participants were instructed to imagine this event 1 week later after ingestion of either 35 mg cortisol, 80 mg propranolol, or a placebo. Physiological responding to the script-driven imagery was recorded. Another week later, after washout, the imagery was repeated again. During all three sessions as well as 8 months later, subjective emotional reactions to the memories were assessed. ResultsThe emotionality of the memories was reduced over time, which was not affected by the treatments, however. The personal emotional script did evoke higher skin conductance responses than a neutral story, which decreased 1 week later, but no effects were found of either propranolol or cortisol on this responsiveness. Conclusions Whereas healthy males do show psychophysiological responding to personal emotional scripts, the effects of cortisol and propranolol on physiological responses to emotional memories might be specific to clinical groups characterized by hyper-responsiveness, like PTSD. Future studies using longer-acting doses and more elaborate reactivation procedures in both healthy men and women could shed more light on the effects of cortisol and propranolol on psychophysiological responding to emotional memories.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychophysiological responding to emotional memories in healthy young men after cortisol and propranolol administration

et al. 2009

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“…script-driven imagery: Lang, Levin, Miller, & Kozak, 1983) have been widely studied (e.g. Hopper, Frewen, Sack, Lanius, & Van Der Kolk, 2007; Pitman, Orr, Forgue, De Jong, & Claiborn, 1987). When individuals with PTSD underwent cued recall of trauma, or were exposed to reminders that triggered involuntary traumatic memories, increased heart rate (HR), a sign of emotional arousal (Blechert, Michael, Grossman, Lajtman, & Wilhelm, 2007), has consistently been found (e.g.…”

Section: Heart Rate As An Index Of Emotional Arousalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiovascular and psychological responses to voluntary recall of trauma in posttraumatic stress disorder

Chou

Marca

Steptoe

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Voluntary recall of trauma is a key element in exposure-based psychotherapies and can trigger spontaneous dissociative responses such as flashbacks, depersonalisation, and derealisation. In order to examine the associations between cardiovascular and psychological responses to voluntary recollection of trauma, individuals with PTSD recalled a traumatic memory. Heart rate and heart rate variability were recorded continuously and the episodes when different forms of dissociation were experienced during the recall were identified. A significant increase in parasympathetic activity was found during trauma recall, with greater parasympathetic dominance being indicative of greater state depersonalisation/derealisation. Whereas overall decreases in heart rate during trauma recall were associated with increased fear and perceived threat, flashbacks were accompanied by short-term increases in heart rate. These findings demonstrate different types of cardiovascular responses associated with different psychological experiences during trauma recall. Future research directions were discussed.

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“…Additionally, "responses" to the stressor were sampled after cessation of the auditory stimulus. Although subjects were instructed to continue imagining whatever came to mind for 5 minutes after the stimulus stopped, and this instruction can sustain or increase arousal in PTSD patients (Pitman et al 1987), we cannot definitively determine whether differential responsivity of patients reflects stress responsivity per se, or differences in recovery from stress. Furthermore, because the time course of response in various response systems might differ, it is conceivable that at the time of sampling, we captured a stress response in one system while another system was already recovering.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among psychophysiological measures, enhanced heart rate (HR) responses have been found consistently reported (Blanchard et al 1982;McFall et al 1990;Pallmeyer et al 1986;); whereas, enhanced skin conductance (SC) and electromyogram (EMG) responses have been mainly reported during internally generated mental imagery Pitman et al 1987). This response heterogeneity is not surprising, because the SC response reflects primarily sympathetic tone, the HR response is governed by both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, and facial EMG response reflects primarily stimulus appraisal, or valence, but not arousal (Bradley et al 1996).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroendocrine and Psychophysiologic Responses in PTSD: A Symptom Provocation Study

Liberzon

Abelson

Flagel

et al. 1999

Neuropsychopharmacology

249

142

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Psychophysiologic Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Imagery in Vietnam Combat Veterans

Cited by 682 publications

References 16 publications

Psychophysiological responding to emotional memories in healthy young men after cortisol and propranolol administration

Psychophysiological responding to emotional memories in healthy young men after cortisol and propranolol administration

Cardiovascular and psychological responses to voluntary recall of trauma in posttraumatic stress disorder

Neuroendocrine and Psychophysiologic Responses in PTSD: A Symptom Provocation Study

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