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Electrophysiology and Psychophysiology in Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology pp 157–183Cite as

Psychophysiology in the Study of Psychological Trauma: Where Are We Now and Where Do We Need to Be?

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Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 21))

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a major public health concern, which has been seeing increased recent attention partly due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Historically, research attempting to understand the etiology and treatment of PTSD has made frequent use of psychophysiological measures of arousal as they provide a number of advantages in providing objective, non-self-report outcomes that are closely related to proposed neurobiological mechanisms and provide opportunity for cross-species translation. Further, the ongoing shift in classification of psychiatric illness based on symptom clusters to specific biological, physiological, and behavioral constructs, as outlined in the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria project (RDoC), promises that psychophysiological research will continue to play a prominent role in research on trauma-related illnesses. This review focuses on the current state of the knowledge regarding psychophysiological measures and PTSD with a focus on physiological markers associated with current PTSD symptoms, as well as markers of constructs thought to be relevant to PTSD symptomatology (safety signal learning, fear extinction), and psychophysiological markers of risk for developing PTSD following trauma. Future directions and issues for the psychophysiological study of trauma including traumatic brain injury (TBI), treatment outcome studies, and new wearable physiological monitoring technologies are also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by MH074697, MH042228, VA BLR&D Merit Award, and a NARSAD Young Investigator Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. Mail Code 0804, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0804, USA

    D. T. Acheson, M. A. Geyer & V. B. Risbrough

  2. Center for Excellence in Stress and Mental Health, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, USA

    V. B. Risbrough

  3. Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, USA

    M. A. Geyer

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  1. D. T. Acheson
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  2. M. A. Geyer
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  3. V. B. Risbrough
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Correspondence to V. B. Risbrough .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology,, Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom

    Veena Kumari

  2. Center for Neuropsych Research of Traumatic Stress, Charles University Department of Psychiatry, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Bob

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC), Kansas City, Missouri, USA

    Nash N. Boutros

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Acheson, D.T., Geyer, M.A., Risbrough, V.B. (2014). Psychophysiology in the Study of Psychological Trauma: Where Are We Now and Where Do We Need to Be?. In: Kumari, V., Bob, P., Boutros, N. (eds) Electrophysiology and Psychophysiology in Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 21. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2014_346

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