Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning in combat veterans with and without post-traumatic stress disorder |
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Authors: | Edwin?D?Ayers Jeffrey?White Email author" target="_blank">D?A?PowellEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Shirley L. Buchanan Neuroscience Laboratory, Dorn V.A. Medical Center, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, 29209 Columbia, SC;(2) Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, 29208 Columbia, SC;(3) Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 29208 Columbia, SC;(4) Department of Psychology and Sociology, South Carolina State University, 29117 Orangeburg, SC |
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Abstract: | Several recent studies have investigated relationships between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and learning and memory
problems. These reports have found in general that not only does PTSD affect trauma-related memories, but when patients with
PTSD are compared with similar trauma patients without PTSD, general memory impairments have been found. The present paper
reports a study in which associative learning, using Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning, was investigated in combat veterans
with and without chronic PTSD, using interstimulus intervals of 500 and 1000 msec in two separate experiments. Although several
recent reports suggest that larger-magnitude autonomic conditioned responses occur in patients with PTSD during Pavlovian
conditoning, the present study found evidence of impaired Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning in combat veterans with and without
PTSD, compared to non-combat veterans. Although these data suggest that combat leads to an impaired associative learning process
regardless of whether PTSD is apparent, a group of community-dwelling combat veterans not under medical treatment showed normal
conditioning, suggesting that variables other than prior combat must also be involved. |
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Keywords: | Classical Conditioning PTSD Anxiety Learning Age Medication |
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