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Ely SL, Zundel CG, Gowatch LC, Evanski JM, Bhogal A, Carpenter C, Shampine M, Marusak H. Attention, attention! Posttraumatic stress disorder is associated with altered attention-related brain function. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1244685. [PMID: 37670803 PMCID: PMC10476007 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1244685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition characterized by altered arousal, mood, and cognition. Studies report attentional alterations such as threat bias in individuals with PTSD, though this work has largely been conducted within emotionally-charged contexts (e.g., threatening stimuli). Emerging behavioral evidence suggests that PTSD-related attention deficits exist even in the absence of threatening cues or anxiety triggers. However, the role and functioning of attention brain circuits as they relate to PTSD remains underexplored. In this mini review, we highlight recent work using non-emotional stimuli to investigate the neurobiology of attention and disruptions to attention-related brain function among individuals with PTSD. We then discuss gaps in the current literature, including questions pertaining to the neural circuitry of attentional alterations in PTSD, as well as the contributions that trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, comorbidities, and pre-existing vulnerabilities may have in this relationship. Finally, we suggest future directions for this emerging area of research, which may further inform knowledge surrounding the neurobiological underpinnings of PTSD and potential treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha L. Ely
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
- Translational Neuroscience PhD Program, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Clara G. Zundel
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Leah C. Gowatch
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Julia M. Evanski
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Amanpreet Bhogal
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Carmen Carpenter
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - MacKenna Shampine
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
| | - Hilary Marusak
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
- Translational Neuroscience PhD Program, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
- Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
- Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
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Perrier J, Bruijel J, Naveau M, Ramautar J, Delcroix N, Coppens J, Lakbila‐Kamal O, Stoffers D, Bessot N, Van Someren EJW. Functional connectivity correlates of attentional networks in insomnia disorder: A pilot study. J Sleep Res 2022; 32:e13796. [PMID: 36436510 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 10/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Insomnia disorder has been associated with poor executive functioning. Functional imaging studies of executive functioning in insomnia are scarce and inconclusive. Because the Attentional Network Test relies on well-defined cortical networks and sensitively distinguishes different aspects of executive function, it might reveal brain functional alterations in relatively small samples of patients. The current pilot study assessed functional connectivity during the Attentional Network Test performed using magnetic resonance imaging in 12 participants with insomnia and 13 self-defined good sleepers. ANCOVAs were used to evaluate group differences in performance and functional connectivity in the regions of interest representing the attentional networks (i.e. alerting, orienting and executive control) at p < 0.05, uncorrected. During the orienting part, participants with insomnia showed weaker connectivity of the precentral gyrus with the superior parietal lobe (false discovery rate-corrected), while they showed stronger connectivity between premotor and visual regions. Individual differences in connectivity between premotor and visual regions correlated inversely with reaction time. Reaction times suggested more efficient executive control in participants with insomnia compared with good sleepers. During the executive control part, participants with insomnia showed stronger connectivity of thalamic parts of the arousal circuit with the middle frontal and the occipital gyri. Conversely, connectivity between the inferior and superior frontal gyri was weaker. Participants with insomnia seem to recruit more cortical resources in visuo-motor regions to orient attention than good sleepers do, and seem to have enhanced executive control that relates to stronger connectivity of arousal-related thalamic areas. This latter result should be treated with caution and requires confirmation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joy Perrier
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, COMETE Caen France
| | - Jessica Bruijel
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
- Department of Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience Maastricht University Maastricht The Netherlands
| | - Mikaël Naveau
- UMS 3408 Cyceron, CNRS Caen Normandy University, GIP CYCERON Caen France
| | - Jennifer Ramautar
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Nicolas Delcroix
- UMS 3408 Cyceron, CNRS Caen Normandy University, GIP CYCERON Caen France
| | - Joris Coppens
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Oti Lakbila‐Kamal
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | - Diederick Stoffers
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
| | | | - Eus J. W. Van Someren
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Amsterdam The Netherlands
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Neuroscience VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands
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Keller AS, Ling R, Williams LM. Spatial attention impairments are characterized by specific electro-encephalographic correlates and partially mediate the association between early life stress and anxiety. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022; 22:414-428. [PMID: 34850363 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-021-00963-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Although impaired attention is a diagnostic feature of anxiety disorders, we lack an understanding of which aspects of attention are impaired, the neurobiological basis of these impairments, and the contribution of stressors. To address these gaps in knowledge, we developed and tested behavioral tasks designed to parse the subdomains of attention impairments associated with anxiety symptoms and used electro-encephalographic (EEG) recordings to probe the neural basis of attentional performance. Participants were n = 55 individuals aged 18-35 with mild-to-moderate mood and anxiety symptoms. We also assessed stressful life events that may impact mental health and attention abilities, including stressors that occurred in early life before age 18 years. Severity of anxiety was found to be specifically associated with impairments in spatial attention but not feature-based attention. These impairments in spatial attention also partially mediated the association between early-life stressors and anxiety symptoms. Impairments in spatial selective attention were associated with decreased posterior alpha oscillations in EEG recordings in a subsample of participants, whereas spatial divided attention impairments were associated with decreased frontocentral theta oscillations. Our results provide a thorough characterization of attention impairments associated with anxiety, their EEG correlates, and the impact of stressors both in early life and adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arielle S Keller
- Graduate Program in Neurosciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94134, USA
| | - Ruth Ling
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94134, USA
| | - Leanne M Williams
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94134, USA.
- MIRECC, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
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Augsburger M, Galatzer-Levy IR. Utilization of machine learning to test the impact of cognitive processing and emotion recognition on the development of PTSD following trauma exposure. BMC Psychiatry 2020; 20:325. [PMID: 32576245 PMCID: PMC7310383 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-020-02728-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Though lifetime exposure to traumatic events is significant, only a minority of individuals develops symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Post-trauma alterations in neurocognitive and affective functioning are likely to reflect changes in underlying brain networks that are predictive of PTSD. These constructs are assumed to interact in a highly complex way. The aim of this exploratory study was to apply machine learning models to investigate the contribution of these interactions on PTSD symptom development and identify measures indicative of circuit related dysfunction. METHODS N = 94 participants admitted to the emergency room of an inner-city hospital after trauma exposure completed a battery of neurocognitive and emotional tests 1 month after the incident. Different machine learning algorithms were applied to predict PTSD symptom severity and clusters after 3 months based. RESULTS Overall, model accuracy did not differ between PTSD clusters, though the importance of cognitive and emotional domains demonstrated both key differences and overlap. Alterations in higher-order executive functioning, speed of information processing, and processing of emotionally incongruent cues were the most important predictors. CONCLUSIONS Data-driven approaches are a powerful tool to investigate complex interactions and can enhance the mechanistic understanding of PTSD. The study identifies important relationships between cognitive processing and emotion recognition that may be valuable to predict and understand mechanisms of risk and resilience responses to trauma prospectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mareike Augsburger
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland.
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