Abstract
Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the acquisition, generalization,
and extinction of conditioned physiologic responses to aversive stimuli in posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD).
Methods: Thirty-six PTSD patients, 20 individuals with past trauma and no current
PTSD, and 30 mentally healthy individuals without exposure to major trauma underwent
a differential aversive conditioning experiment. Bursts of 105 dB white noise were
used as unconditioned stimuli (UCSs), and 35 × 24 mm slides of different colors served
as either CS+ (paired) or CS− (unpaired) stimuli. Heart rate (HR) and nondominant
palm skin conductance (SC) were measured at rest and between 1 and 4 sec following
each CS presentation.
Results: The PTSD group showed higher levels of resting SC and resting HR, larger
SC responses to the initial presentation of unpaired CSs, larger HR responses following
paired CS+ stimuli, larger SC responses to unpaired CS− during acquisition and extinction,
and larger SC and HR responses to CS+ during extinction. The group differences in
responses to CS+ during extinction remained statistically significant after controlling
for age, resting physiologic levels, and initial responsivity.
Conclusions: PTSD is associated with elevated autonomic responses to both innocuous
and aversive stimuli, with larger responses to unpaired cues and with reduced extinction
of conditioned responses.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
June 3,
1999
Received in revised form:
November 23,
1998
Received in revised form:
May 3,
1999
Received:
June 15,
1998
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
