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Endogenous salivary α-amylase does not interact with skin conductance response during fear extinction in posttraumatic stress disorder
Citation
Zuj, DV and Palmer, MA and Malhi, GS and Bryant, RA and Felmingham, KL, Endogenous salivary α-amylase does not interact with skin conductance response during fear extinction in posttraumatic stress disorder, Psychiatry Research, 262 pp. 316-322. ISSN 0165-1781 (2018) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2018 Crown Copyright
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2018.02.016
Abstract
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with elevated noradrenergic signaling, which has an impact
on emotional learning and memory. Fear extinction is thought to underlie the processes of exposure therapy,
however the relationship between noradrenaline and extinction in PTSD is unclear. Participants with PTSD
(n= 21), trauma-exposure without PTSD (TC; n = 36), and non-trauma-exposed controls (NTC; n = 27) completed a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm, and conditioned fear was indexed by skin conductance
response (SCR). Salivary α-amylase (sAA) collected at baseline and immediately post-fear acquisition was used
as an index of noradrenaline, and we examined whether sAA in response to fear acquisition was a moderator
between fear extinction and PTSD symptoms. While there was a significant increase in sAA from baseline to postfear acquisition, this was not modulated by group. Compared to TC and NTC, the PTSD group displayed a slower
decline in SCRs during early extinction, which generalized across stimulus type, and was not moderated by sAA.
These findings suggest that the relationship between fear extinction and PTSD symptoms does not change as a
function of sAA levels; however previous research suggests other processes of fear learning may be associated
with noradrenergic activity in PTSD.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | PTSD, trauma, extinction, salivary alpha-amylase, sympathetic arousal |
Research Division: | Psychology |
Research Group: | Biological psychology |
Research Field: | Behavioural neuroscience |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in psychology |
UTAS Author: | Zuj, DV (Dr Daniel Zuj) |
UTAS Author: | Palmer, MA (Associate Professor Matt Palmer) |
ID Code: | 130898 |
Year Published: | 2018 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 3 |
Deposited By: | Psychology |
Deposited On: | 2019-02-19 |
Last Modified: | 2019-04-15 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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