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Posttraumatic Psychological Symptoms are Associated with Reduced Inhibitory Control, not General Executive
Joseph DeGutis1, Michael Esterman1, Bay McCulloch1
11Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders (TRACTS),VA RR&D TBI Center of Excellence,VA Boston Healthcare System,Boston,Massachusetts.
Summary
Greater posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are specifically linked to impaired inhibitory control, not a general decline in executive functioning. This involves difficulties stopping automatic responses and resisting distractions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Clinical Research
Background:
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is increasingly linked to executive dysfunction.
- The specific nature of this executive dysfunction (global vs. domain-specific) remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specificity of the association between PTSD symptoms and executive function subdomains.
- To determine if inhibitory control is particularly affected in veterans with PTSD.
Main Methods:
- Administered a comprehensive battery of executive functioning tasks to Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.
- Assessed varying levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms.
Main Results:
- Inhibitory control tasks, specifically response inhibition and distractor suppression, significantly predicted PTSD and depression symptoms.
- Measures of working memory, task switching, and general executive function did not explain significant variance.
- Inhibitory control measures explained independent variance in symptom severity.
Conclusions:
- PTSD symptoms are associated with specific deficits in inhibitory control, not global executive dysfunction.
- Difficulties in inhibiting automatic responses and resisting distractions characterize executive function impairments in PTSD.
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