Negative expectancies in posttraumatic stress disorder: Neurophysiological (N400) and behavioral evidence
Section snippets
Participants
Participants for this study were recruited from the community using flyers and newspaper ads placed around Addison, Chittenden and Rutland counties in Vermont. Flyers were posted at local stores and businesses, and American Legion centers within a 50-mile radius of Middlebury College and Norwich University. The flyers and advertisements provided basic information about the study, including monetary compensation for participation, and instructed interested individuals to contact the principle
Behavioral data
On 99.0% of the congruent trials, participants pressed the “Yes” button indicating that the expected final words made sense. Participants pressed “Yes” only 11.6% of the time on unexpected trials. On threatening trials, participants pressed “Yes” on 84.8% of the trials. A 2 (PTSD) × 3 (Condition) ANOVA indicated a PTSD × Condition interaction [F(2,53) = 10.81, p < .01] with the two groups differing only in how they responded to the threatening final words [t(55) = 5.33, p < .01]. Those with
Overview
The purpose of this study was to investigate possible neurophysiological evidence consistent with theoretical and clinical models of biases in individuals with PTSD. It was hypothesized that compared to individuals without PTSD, those with PTSD would exhibit smaller N400 amplitudes in response to threatening sentence endings due to their increased expectancies for threatening information. Consistent with the hypothesis, individuals with PTSD showed smaller (less negative) N400s in response to
Role of funding source
This publication was made possible by the Vermont Genetics Network through Grant # P20 RR16462 from the IMBRE Program of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and component of the NIH as well as an AREA grant (R15 MH 081276) from the National Institute of Mental Health. Neither agency had further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Contributors
Laura Batterink, Libby Marks, and Cordelia Ross all collected substantial portions of the data, analyzed subsets of the data, did careful literature reviews, and wrote academic theses on parts of the project. Kevin Fleming played an important role in the creation of the task, the discussion of theoretical issues, and consultation regarding interpretation and analyses.
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Jason Arndt for his feedback on design and methodology and Mariam Boxwala for her assistance in preparing the manuscript.
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2021, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral ReviewsCitation Excerpt :Lobo et al. (2014) found a larger P3 amplitude (range 300−600 ms, reported as LPP in the Lobo paper) to unpleasant compared to neutral images in the PTSD group. Furthermore, the PTSD group showed a smaller N400 amplitude to threatening sentences and a larger N400 to expected sentences (Kimble et al., 2012). One study, requiring rating of arousal of images, found PTSD had smaller P2 amplitude, but not P3 or LPP amplitude to trauma, negative, neutral and positive images (Wessa et al., 2005).
Emotional intelligence in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder and healthy controls
2018, Psychiatry ResearchCitation Excerpt :Those with comorbid PTSD, however, performed more poorly (Thomsen et al., 2017). According to dysfunctional trauma-related appraisals and interpretations in PTSD, research has shown that PTSD patients exhibited enhanced expectations for threat-related interpretations (Kimble et al., 2012) and are unable to inhibit the potentially negative meaning (Amir et al., 2002). Although patients with BPD show evaluation biases (e.g., that others are malevolent) (Roepke et al., 2012), an influence of dysfunctional trauma-related appraisals on emotional intelligence tasks is conceivable.
Information Processing of the Rorschach's Traumatic Content Index in Trauma-exposed Adults: An Event Related Potential (ERP) Study
2017, Biological PsychologyCitation Excerpt :The hypothesis of general sensitivity to threat is also supported by the expression of PTSD symptoms that frequently include a constant search for a wide variety of threats in the everyday environment, beyond those related to the original trauma. However, ERP studies that have used threatening stimuli not directly related to the participants’ traumatic experiences have found reduced threat processing, possibly due to an increased expectancy of threatening information or, alternatively, as an adaptive response aimed at reducing emotional arousal (Kimble, Batterink, Marks, Ross, & Fleming, 2012; MacNamara, Post, Kennedy, Rabinak, & Phan, 2013). Some previous research, however, suggest that those with PTSD may possess a general sensitivity that is not limited to perceived threat.
Modification of cognitive biases related to posttraumatic stress: A systematic review and research agenda
2017, Clinical Psychology ReviewCitation Excerpt :Kimble et al. (2002) showed that combat veterans with PTSD generated more trauma-related endings than combat veterans without PTSD. In another study, Kimble, Batterink, Marks, Ross, and Fleming (2012) presented ambiguous sentence stems that were completed with either a threatening, expected, or unexpected ending. Participants had to indicate whether a sentence made sense.
Abnormal self-schema in semantic memory in major depressive disorder: Evidence from event-related brain potentials
2017, Biological PsychologyCitation Excerpt :Researchers have proposed that these “N400 semantic priming effects” reflect use of context to facilitate processing of related items by pre-activating their neural representations in semantic long-term memory (DeLong, Urbach, & Kutas, 2005; Kutas & Federmeier, 2011). Thus, the N400 has been used as a neurophysiological probe of the functional organization of semantic memory in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia (Kiang, Kutas, Light, & Braff, 2008; Kostova, Passerieux, Laurent, & Hardy-Bayle, 2005; Mathalon, Faustman, & Ford, 2002; Salisbury, 2010) and posttraumatic stress disorder (Kimble, Batterink, Marks, Ross, & Fleming, 2012). Advantages of this technique include its ability to provide a non-invasive window on neural processing in semantic memory, without relying on any explicit or overt response from the subject.