fMRI in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) During Working Memory Updating

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Neuropsychological studies investigating trauma-exposed and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subjects have generally underlined the significantly poorer performance of tasks that require attention, concentration, and verbal memory, and difficulty in regulating memories surrounding the traumatic event. A previous study (El Hage et al. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 2006) revealed that the trauma-exposed subjects scored higher on anxiety/depression scales, and lower on processing speed tests. Moreover, the study showed significant impairment in working memory partially mediated by speed processing, but not by anxiety or depression. These results suggest that processing speed makes a major contribution to trauma-related working memory decline, and needs to be investigated in further studies.The aim of the present study is to explore correlation between hippocampus volume, frontal dysfunction and cognitive slowing in trauma-exposed subjects, while examining brain activation during performance of working memory tasks using functional magnetic resonance.

Detailed Description
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Working memory performance will be assessed using the 3-back test, and processing speed evaluated with words comparison test. The study will be conducted on 2 years. The study should include 18 right-handed females victims of sexual abuse and suffering from PTSD, and 18 controls right-handed females without any history of abuse ad not suffering from PTSD. Brain activation will be measured during performance of working memory tasks (3-back test) and processing speed test using functional magnetic resonance.

Official Title
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Working Memory Updating in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Study of Neural Correlates Using fMRI

Conditions
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Anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, Amnesia, Dissociative

Intervention / Treatment
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* Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Right-handed women Victim of sexual abuse Suffering from PTSD Exclusion Criteria: Epilepsy Claustrophobia MRI contre-indication Addictive disorders Sightless Detection of a brain injury at the MRI

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 40 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| PTSD<br> | Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional<br>* Structural and functional MRI<br>|
| CONTROLS<br> | Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Functional<br>* Structural and functional MRI<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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PTSD, MRI, Functional, Anxiety, Working Memory, Processing speed