Is posttraumatic stress disorder associated with specific deficits in episodic memory?

Full Abstract

People with PTSD often report difficulties remembering day to day information unrelated to their traumatic episode. In addition, structural and functional imaging techniques have identified abnormalities in the brains of people with PTSD in regions known to be important for memory functioning. Nevertheless, studies investigating cognitive functioning in people with PTSD have reported widely varying results. The aim of this review is to investigate studies reporting performance on tests of episodic memory. Specifically, papers were examined in relation to the hypothesised memory functions of the frontal lobes, the hippocampus and the amygdala. It is concluded that while there is reasonable evidence of frontal lobe involvement, memory deficits caused by hippocampal involvement have been more difficult to detect. There are no published studies looking at the involvement of the amygdala although preliminary evidence suggests that people with PTSD do have memory deficits resulting from dysfunction of this structure. Reasons for the inconclusiveness of the results are discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Isaac, Claire L (CL); Cushway, Delia (D); Jones, Gregory V (GV);

Affiliation: Coventry University, Priory Road, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK. c.l.isaac(-atsign-)sheffield.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Clinical psychology review (Clin Psychol Rev), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 26 (issue 8) : pp 939-55

Dates: Created 2006/11/13; Completed 2007/03/01;

PMID: 16481082, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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