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Enhanced Amygdala and Medial Prefrontal Activation During Nonconscious Processing of Fear in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An fMRI Study
Citation
Bryant, RA and Kemp, AH and Felmingham, KL and Liddell, B and Olivieri, G and Peduto, A and Gordon, E and Williams, LM, Enhanced Amygdala and Medial Prefrontal Activation During Nonconscious Processing of Fear in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An fMRI Study, Human Brain Mapping, 29, (5) pp. 517-523. ISSN 1065-9471 (2008) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. The definitive published version is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
Abstract
Abstract: Biological models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that patients will display
heightened amygdala but decreased medial prefrontal activity during processing of fear stimuli. However,
a rapid and automatic alerting mechanism for responding to nonconscious signals of fear suggests
that PTSD may display heightened rather than decreased MPFC under nonconscious processing
of fear stimuli. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine blood oxygenation
level-dependent signal changes during nonconscious presentation (16.7 ms, masked) of fearful and neutral
faces in 15 participants with PTSD and 15 age and sex-matched healthy control participants.
Results indicate that PTSD participants display increased amygdala and MPFC activity during nonconscious
processing of fearful faces. These data extend existing models by suggesting that the impaired
MPFC activation in PTSD may be limited to conscious fear processing.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | fMRI; medial prefrontal cortex; amygdala; posttraumatic stress disorder; fear |
| Research Division: | Psychology |
| Research Group: | Biological psychology |
| Research Field: | Behavioural neuroscience |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Clinical health |
| Objective Field: | Clinical health not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Felmingham, KL (Professor Kim Felmingham) |
| ID Code: | 72128 |
| Year Published: | 2008 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 170 |
| Deposited By: | Psychology |
| Deposited On: | 2011-08-22 |
| Last Modified: | 2014-12-03 |
| Downloads: | 5 View Download Statistics |
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