Biological psychiatry
-
Biological psychiatry · Dec 1999
Sensory gating in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: reduced auditory P50 suppression in combat veterans.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be associated with a general impairment of cognitive function that extends beyond the processing of trauma-specific stimuli. Suppression of the auditory P50 response to repeated stimuli occurs in normal subjects and reflects the central nervous system's ability to screen out repetitive stimuli, a phenomenon referred to as sensory gating. This study examines P50 sensory gating to nonstartle auditory stimuli in PTSD subjects and normal controls. ⋯ This study provides evidence that PTSD is associated with impaired gating to nonstartle trauma-neutral auditory stimuli.