PTSD AND Memory/Learning

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder characterized by the recurrence of a particular traumatic event in the mind of the individual who experienced it; symptoms include a numbness or lack of responsiveness to external stimuli and a variety of depression- and/or anxiety-related behaviors such as sleep disturbances, low threshold for startling, impairment of memory and often guilt about some element of participation in the event (Sue, Sue & Sue, 1994). Memory and memory processes are such a key element of the disorder that in his discussion of the condition Dworetzky (1995) stated:

Clearly, the memories of a traumatic experience can have long-term effects even though the immediate danger has been removed. How long will stress of this sort last? Perhaps as long as the events are remembered. (p. 431)

The centrality of memory and learning processes (as they relate to memory) has lead to great deal of theory and research. Cognitive models of PTSD proposed that the problem involves problematic information processing arising as a reaction to trauma. In this regard, Litz, Weathers, Monoaco, Herman, Wulfsohn, Marx, and Keane (1996) studied a sample of Vietnam combat veterans with current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with other Axis-I disorders, or with no Axis-I disorders. All subjects completed a series of tasks designed to elucidate the psychophysiological parameters of memory/informati

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y chronic sexual abuse. Based on psychobiological evidence that repeated stress alters brain and body biochemistry, Genetta hypothesized that brain behavior in this group would also be altered. Sample subjects were ten women with PTSD due to ongoing childhood sexual abuse and ten female control subjects; all of whom were tested using six neuropsychological measures. Scores attained by the PTSD group differed significantly from those of the control group on one measure of verbal learning and recall (CVLT). According to Genetta (1996) neuropsychological data supported the existence of separate memory systems subserving verbal and visual-motor learning and memory, as possible explanations for these findings. In his review of both cognitive theory and research on PTSD, Siegel (1995) stated that mechanisms of divided attention and emotional flooding during traumatic experiences may explain classic memory findings in PTSD: e.g., psychogenic amnesia in the setting of hyperarousal, startle response, intrusive images, and avoidance behaviors. Specifically, he notes that cognitive research supports the notion that blocked focal attention leads to impaired explicit processing but intact implicit recall. (Explicit memory involves a con
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Approximate Word count = 2016
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)