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Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Show Decreased Cognitive Control: Evidence from Dichotic Listening

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2011

Grethe E. Johnsen ,
Pushpa Kanagaratnam  and
Arve E. Asbjørnsen
Grethe E. Johnsen*
Affiliation:
National Centre for Emergency Primary Health Care, Uni Health, Bergen, Norway
Pushpa Kanagaratnam
Affiliation:
Social Aetiology of Mental Illness (SAMI), CAMH and University of Toronto, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Arve E. Asbjørnsen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Grethe E. Johnsen, National Centre for Emergency Primary Health Care, Uni Health, Kalfarveien 31, N-5018 Bergen, Norway. E-mail: grethe.johnsen@isf.uib.no
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Abstract

The influence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on cognitive control and auditory attention modulation was examined with the use of a dichotic-listening (DL) task. The participants were 45 war-exposed refugees. The PTSD group comprised 22 participants meeting the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD, and the Control group comprised 23 war-exposed participants without PTSD. Both groups were tested with a consonant–vowel syllables DL task under three different attentional instructions. The two groups did not differ in the non-forced and forced-right conditions and showed, as expected, right-ear advantages. The Control group showed, as expected, a left-ear advantage in the forced-left (FL) condition. However, the PTSD group continued to show a right-ear advantage - and only minor modulation of the performance during the FL condition. This finding suggests that PTSD is associated with a reduced capacity for top-down attentional control of a bottom-up or stimulus-driven effect. The result shows that participants with PTSD have impaired cognitive control functions when tested on information processing of neutral stimuli. (JINS, 2011, 17, 344–353)

Keywords

Attention modulationCognitive impairmentExecutive functionDepressionIntrusive memoriesRefugees
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , 28 February 2011 , pp. 344 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2011

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