Journal article
Atypical visual processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Mueller-Pfeiffer C Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland ; Center of Education and Research (COEUR), Psychiatric Services of the County of St. Gallen-North, Wil, Switzerland ; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Schick M Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Schulte-Vels T Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- O'Gorman R Center for MR-Research, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Michels L Center for MR-Research, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland ; Institute of Neuroradiology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Martin-Soelch C Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Blair JR Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
- Rufer M Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Schnyder U Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Zeffiro T Neural Systems Group, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Hasler G Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- 2013-12-28
Published in:
- NeuroImage. Clinical. - 2013
Dorsal stream
International Affective Picture System
Sensory perception
Ventral stream
Visual system
fMRI
English
BACKGROUND
Many patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) feel overwhelmed in situations with high levels of sensory input, as in crowded situations with complex sensory characteristics. These difficulties might be related to subtle sensory processing deficits similar to those that have been found for sounds in electrophysiological studies.
METHOD
Visual processing was investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging in trauma-exposed participants with (N = 18) and without PTSD (N = 21) employing a picture-viewing task.
RESULTS
Activity observed in response to visual scenes was lower in PTSD participants 1) in the ventral stream of the visual system, including striate and extrastriate, inferior temporal, and entorhinal cortices, and 2) in dorsal and ventral attention systems (P < 0.05, FWE-corrected). These effects could not be explained by the emotional salience of the pictures.
CONCLUSIONS
Visual processing was substantially altered in PTSD in the ventral visual stream, a component of the visual system thought to be responsible for object property processing. Together with previous reports of subtle auditory deficits in PTSD, these findings provide strong support for potentially important sensory processing deficits, whose origins may be related to dysfunctional attention processes.
Many patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) feel overwhelmed in situations with high levels of sensory input, as in crowded situations with complex sensory characteristics. These difficulties might be related to subtle sensory processing deficits similar to those that have been found for sounds in electrophysiological studies.
METHOD
Visual processing was investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging in trauma-exposed participants with (N = 18) and without PTSD (N = 21) employing a picture-viewing task.
RESULTS
Activity observed in response to visual scenes was lower in PTSD participants 1) in the ventral stream of the visual system, including striate and extrastriate, inferior temporal, and entorhinal cortices, and 2) in dorsal and ventral attention systems (P < 0.05, FWE-corrected). These effects could not be explained by the emotional salience of the pictures.
CONCLUSIONS
Visual processing was substantially altered in PTSD in the ventral visual stream, a component of the visual system thought to be responsible for object property processing. Together with previous reports of subtle auditory deficits in PTSD, these findings provide strong support for potentially important sensory processing deficits, whose origins may be related to dysfunctional attention processes.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- gold
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1016/j.nicl.2013.08.009
- PMID 24371791
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/56317
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