Atypical visual processing in posttraumatic stress disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) feel overwhelmed in situations with high levels of sensory input, as in crowded situations with complex sensory characteristics. These difficulties might be related to subtle sensory processing deficits similar to those that have been found for sounds in electrophysiological studies.

Method

Visual processing was investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging in trauma-exposed participants with (N = 18) and without PTSD (N = 21) employing a picture-viewing task.

Results

Activity observed in response to visual scenes was lower in PTSD participants 1) in the ventral stream of the visual system, including striate and extrastriate, inferior temporal, and entorhinal cortices, and 2) in dorsal and ve

SUBMITTER: Mueller-Pfeiffer C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3871398 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature