Cognitive Tasks for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)
Age: 18+
Sex: Any
Travel: May Be Covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: Academic
Recruiting
Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
Must not be taking: Psychotropic medications
Disqualifiers: Significant suicidality, Psychosis, others
No Placebo Group
Approved in 1 Jurisdiction
Trial Summary
What is the purpose of this trial?The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a visuospatial task on memory reconsolidation and trauma symptoms for trauma-exposed individuals after exposure to traumatic memory reactivation paradigm.
Do I need to stop my current medications for the trial?
The trial does not specify if you need to stop your current medications, but it does mention that you should not have had changes in psychotropic medication (medications affecting the mind) in the last 8 weeks.
What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment Visuospatial Task (VST), Visual Scanning Training, Visuospatial Task for PTSD?
The research suggests that PTSD is associated with impairments in cognitive functions like memory and attention, which are areas that visuospatial tasks can help improve. While the studies don't directly test the specific treatment, they indicate that improving cognitive functions can be beneficial for PTSD patients.
12345How does the cognitive task treatment for PTSD differ from other treatments?
This treatment focuses on using specific cognitive tasks to address the unique brain activity patterns and cognitive impairments seen in PTSD, such as memory and attention issues, which are not typically the primary focus of standard PTSD treatments like medication or talk therapy.
12678Eligibility Criteria
This trial is for adults aged 18-65 who speak and write English fluently, have internet access, a computer with video/audio recording, and have experienced trauma from a vehicle accident, sexual or physical assault, or combat.Inclusion Criteria
You have experienced a serious accident, sexual assault, physical assault, or combat.
You can use the internet.
You can read and speak English fluently.
+2 more
Trial Timeline
Screening
Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial
2-4 weeks
Treatment
Participants undergo a trauma memory reactivation procedure followed by a visuospatial task, word association task, or no treatment control condition
1 week
1 visit (in-person)
Follow-up
Participants are monitored for changes in trauma-related symptoms and memory reconsolidation effects
2 weeks
1 visit (virtual)
Participant Groups
The study examines how doing a visuospatial task (like puzzles) affects the way people remember traumatic events and their symptoms of trauma. Participants will first be reminded of their trauma before trying the tasks.
3Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Placebo Group
Group I: Visuospatial Task (VST)Experimental Treatment1 Intervention
Group II: No Game Play (NT-CTRL)Active Control1 Intervention
Group III: Word Association Task (WAT)Placebo Group1 Intervention
Find a Clinic Near You
Research Locations NearbySelect from list below to view details:
The Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety Disorders, The University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX
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Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
University of Texas at AustinLead Sponsor
References
Multivariate assessment of explicit memory function in combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. [2019]Declarative memory impairment is a frequent complaint of patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We assessed memory, attention, visual spatial skills, and executive function in Vietnam combat veterans with (n = 19) and without (n = 13) PTSD. Although PTSD subjects demonstrated a "generalized impairment" relative to non-PTSD subjects on a majority of tasks, only attention and memory provided unique and independent prediction of PTSD versus non-PTSD status. Our findings suggest that memory functioning represents a neurocognitive domain of specific relevance to the development of PTSD in trauma-exposed individuals, which can be distinguished from generalized attentional impairment as well as the effects of trauma exposure severity, IQ, comorbid depression, history of alcohol use, and history of developmental learning problems.
PTSD and cognitive symptoms relate to inhibition-related prefrontal activation and functional connectivity. [2020]Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with reduced executive functioning and verbal memory performance, as well as abnormal task-specific activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortices (ACC). The current study examined how PTSD symptoms and neuropsychological performance in combat veterans relates to (1) medial PFC and ACC activity during cognitive inhibition, and (2) task-independent PFC functional connectivity.
Inefficient Attentional Control Explains Verbal-Memory Deficits Among Military Veterans With Posttraumatic Reexperiencing Symptoms. [2023]Among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), verbal learning and memory are areas of weakness compared with other cognitive domains (e.g., visuospatial memory). In this study, previously deployed military veterans completed clinical assessments of word memory and vocabulary (n = 243) and a laboratory task measuring encoding, free recall, repetition priming, and recognition of words (n = 147). Impaired verbal memory was selectively related to reexperiencing symptoms of PTSD but was not associated with other symptom groupings or blast-induced traumatic brain injury. Implicit priming of response times following word repetition was also unrelated to clinical symptoms. Instead, slowed response times during encoding explained associations between reexperiencing and memory performance. These findings are consistent with alterations in attentional control explaining PTSD-related verbal-memory deficits. Such findings have implications for understanding trauma-focused psychotherapy and recovery, which may depend on efficient attentional processing of words to alter posttraumatic reexperiencing symptoms.
The neurocognitive performance of female veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. [2019]Neurocognitive problems are common with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are important to understand because of their association with the success of PTSD treatment and its potential neural correlates. To our knowledge, this is the first neurocognitive study in an all-female U.S. veteran sample, some of whom had PTSD. We examined neurocognitive performance and assessed whether learning deficits, common in PTSD, were associated with executive functioning. Veterans with PTSD (n = 56) and without (n = 53) were evaluated for psychiatric and neurocognitive status. The PTSD group had a lower estimated IQ (d = 0.53) and performed more poorly on all neurocognitive domains (d range = 0.57-0.88), except verbal retention (d = 0.04). A subset of the 2 groups that were matched on IQ and demographics similarly demonstrated poorer performance for the PTSD group on all neurocognitive domains (d range = 0.52-0.79), except verbal retention (d = 0.15). Within the PTSD group, executive functioning accounted for significant variance in verbal learning over and above IQ and processing speed (ΔR(2) = .06), as well as depression (ΔR(2) = .07) and PTSD severity (ΔR(2) = .06). This study demonstrated that female veterans with PTSD performed more poorly than females without PTSD on several neurocognitive domains, including verbal learning, processing speed, and executive functioning. Replication of these results using a control group of veterans with more similar trauma exposure, history of mild traumatic brain injury, and psychiatric comorbidities would solidify these findings.
More than symptom reduction: changes in executive function over the course of PTSD treatment. [2022]Persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have neuropsychological impairments in multiple cognitive domains, though particularly in executive function. This exploratory study examined whether these cognitive impairments were alleviated following trauma-focused treatment. Fifteen women underwent neuropsychological testing within a week of treatment onset and approximately 3 months later. Results suggest medium-sized improvement in multiple aspects of executive function, including tests of cognitive flexibility/set-shifting and organization/planning. If replicated in larger samples, such findings raise the possibility that treatment may alleviate neuropsychological impairment in persons with PTSD and thus reduce risk for poor outcome.
Neural systems for cognitive and emotional processing in posttraumatic stress disorder. [2021]Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show altered cognition when trauma-related material is present. PTSD may lead to enhanced processing of trauma-related material, or it may cause impaired processing of trauma-unrelated information. However, other forms of emotional information may also alter cognition in PTSD. In this review, we discuss the behavioral and neural effects of emotion processing on cognition in PTSD, with a focus on neuroimaging results. We propose a model of emotion-cognition interaction based on evidence of two network models of altered brain activation in PTSD. The first is a trauma-disrupted network made up of ventrolateral PFC, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), hippocampus, insula, and dorsomedial PFC that are differentially modulated by trauma content relative to emotional trauma-unrelated information. The trauma-disrupted network forms a subnetwork of regions within a larger, widely recognized network organized into ventral and dorsal streams for processing emotional and cognitive information that converge in the medial PFC and cingulate cortex. Models of fear learning, while not a cognitive process in the conventional sense, provide important insights into the maintenance of the core symptom clusters of PTSD such as re-experiencing and hypervigilance. Fear processing takes place within the limbic corticostriatal loop composed of threat-alerting and threat-assessing components. Understanding the disruptions in these two networks, and their effect on individuals with PTSD, will lead to an improved knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of PTSD and potential targets for both psychotherapeutic and pharmacotherapeutic interventions.
Memory and executive dysfunctions associated with acute posttraumatic stress disorder. [2022]Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in its chronic form has been associated with a number of neurocognitive impairments involving emotionally neutral stimuli. It remains unknown whether such impairments also characterize acute PTSD. In the present investigation, neurocognitive functions were examined in trauma exposed individuals with (n=21) and without (n=16) acute PTSD, as well as in a group of individuals never exposed to trauma (n=17) using specific and standardized tasks such as the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, the Aggie's Figure Learning Test, the Autobiographical Memory Interview, the D2 test, the Stroop task, the digit and visual span tasks of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III, the Trail Making Test, the Tower of London and the vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III. A number of deficits in the cognitive domains of memory, high-level attentional resources, executive function and working memory were found in the group with a diagnosis of acute PTSD only and not among the other groups. The findings, which point to the possibility of disturbed fronto-temporal system function in trauma-exposed individuals with acute PTSD, are particularly relevant for the early clinical management of this disorder.
Attention and regional cerebral blood flow in posttraumatic stress disorder patients with substance abuse histories. [2019]Performance on an attentional task was assessed in posttraumatic stress disorder patients with substance abuse histories (PTSD-SA). Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to measure concurrent regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Eight male PTSD-SA patients and eight normal subjects each received three serial PET scans with 15O-labeled water under the following conditions: (1) resting, (2) auditory continuous performance task (ACPT1), and (3) repeat auditory task (ACPT2). PTSD-SA patients made more errors of commission on the ACPT than normal subjects. Examination of right frontal and parietal cortex ACPT task substrates revealed decreased parietal blood flow in PTSD-SA, which may represent a pathophysiology for poor attentional task performance in PTSD-SA. Attentional problems may underlie other symptomatology in PTSD.