PTSD is associated with impaired event processing and memory for everyday events
Barbara L Pitts1, Michelle L Eisenberg2, Heather R Bailey3
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, 942 Bluemont Hall, 1114 Mid-Campus Dr. North, Manhattan, KS, 66503, USA. barbaral.pitts@gmail.com.
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications
|April 25, 2022
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms impair the ability to segment everyday events, leading to difficulties in recalling daily life activities. This impacts memory for routine experiences, not just trauma recall.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Memory abnormalities are central to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) theories.
- PTSD affects not only trauma memory but also everyday memory and event segmentation.
- Difficulty segmenting activities impacts perception and recall.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if PTSD diagnosis and symptom severity predict event segmentation and memory for everyday activities.
- To explore the relationship between PTSD symptoms and the ability to perceive and recall daily events.
Main Methods:
- 63 individuals with PTSD and 64 trauma-exposed controls participated.
- Participants watched, segmented, and recalled videos of everyday activities.
- Event segmentation agreement and fine-grained action recall were measured.
Main Results:
- Higher PTSD symptom severity correlated with lower agreement on event boundaries.
- Individuals with more severe PTSD recalled fewer fine-grained actions from videos.
- Event segmentation ability was significantly altered in individuals with PTSD.
Conclusions:
- PTSD symptoms negatively impact the event segmentation process.
- Altered event segmentation may contribute to the memory disturbances observed in PTSD.
- Findings suggest a mechanism linking PTSD to broader memory deficits.
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