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Discrete Deviations in Emotional Processing and Regulation Among Individuals With PTSD: Evidence of P300 and LPP
Carine El Jamal1, Nicholas J Santopetro1, Danielle M Morabito1,2
1Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
Psychophysiology
|January 23, 2026
Summary
Individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show altered neural activity, specifically reduced P300 and early LPP amplitudes, during emotional regulation tasks compared to trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD. These neural differences correlate with PTSD symptoms like hyperarousal and avoidance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
Background:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to neural deficits, but research often overlooks trauma-exposed individuals who do not develop PTSD.
- Understanding neural differences in individuals who develop PTSD versus those who do not is crucial for identifying risk markers and understanding etiology.
- Associations between event-related potentials (ERPs) and specific PTSD symptom clusters remain under-investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare emotional reactivity and regulation using ERPs (P300, early LPP, late LPP) between individuals with PTSD and trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD.
- To investigate the relationship between specific ERP components and PTSD symptom clusters (hyperarousal, avoidance).
Main Methods:
- Utilized an emotional regulation task to record neural activity via ERPs.
- Analyzed differences in P300, early LPP, and late LPP amplitudes between PTSD (n=49) and non-PTSD trauma-exposed (n=85) groups.
- Correlated ERP findings with PTSD symptom clusters.
Main Results:
- Individuals with PTSD exhibited reduced P300 amplitudes during negative image suppression and reduced early LPP across all emotion regulation conditions.
- Blunted P300 during suppression and heightened P300 during enhancement were uniquely associated with PTSD.
- Deficits in suppress P300 were linked to avoidance symptoms, while larger P300 amplitudes were associated with hyperarousal symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with PTSD demonstrate deficits in early emotional expression and regulation, specifically in enhance and suppress P300 components, compared to trauma-exposed controls.
- These neural deficits may reflect underlying pathophysiology related to hyperarousal and avoidance symptoms characteristic of PTSD.
- The findings highlight potential neural risk markers for PTSD development and inform our understanding of the disorder's etiology.
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