Male veterans with PTSD exhibit aberrant neural dynamics during working memory processing: an MEG study
Timothy J McDermott1, Amy S Badura-Brack1, Katherine M Becker1
1From the Department of Psychology, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA (McDermott, Badura-Brack, Ryan, Khanna); the Center for Magnetoencephalography, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, NE, USA (McDermott, Becker, Heinrichs-Graham, Wilson); the Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA (Becker); the Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada (Ryan); the Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA (Heinrichs-Graham, Wilson); the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, UNMC, Omaha, NE, USA (Wilson); and the Department of Neurological Sciences, UNMC, Omaha, NE, USA (Wilson).
Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show altered brain activity during working memory tasks. Their brains engage specific networks, suggesting compensatory mechanisms for cognitive deficits.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to executive function deficits, particularly in working memory.
- Understanding the neural underpinnings of these deficits is crucial for developing targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural dynamics of working memory processing in combat veterans with PTSD.
- To compare brain activity during a working memory task between veterans with PTSD and healthy controls using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
Main Methods:
- Utilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) to record brain activity in 51 male combat veterans (27 with PTSD, 24 controls) during a verbal working memory task.
- Processed MEG data into the time-frequency domain and employed beamforming to analyze spatiotemporal dynamics of neural oscillations.
Main Results:
- Observed a posterior-to-anterior wave of neural activity during working memory encoding and maintenance in all participants.
- Veterans with PTSD exhibited stronger alpha oscillatory responses in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during early encoding compared to controls.
- These differences extended to the right supramarginal and temporal cortices during later encoding and maintenance, indicating altered neural processing in PTSD.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with PTSD demonstrate neurophysiological abnormalities in working memory encoding and maintenance.
- Veterans with PTSD engaged a bilateral network, including IFG and supramarginal gyri.
- Enhanced right hemispheric activity in veterans with PTSD may represent a compensatory strategy to manage cognitive deficits.
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