文档介绍：MUNICATION
Exaggerated Amygdala Response to Masked Facial
Stimuli in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Functional
MRI Study
Scott L. Rauch, Paul J. Whalen, Lisa M. Shin, Sean C. McInerney,
Michael L. Macklin, Natasha B. Lasko, Scott P. Orr, and Roger K. Pitman
Background: Converging lines of evidence have impli- patients with PTSD exhibit 1) re-experiencing phenomena
cated the amygdala in the pathophysiology of posttrau- that may occur spontaneously or in response to reminders
matic stress disorder (PTSD). We previously developed a of the traumatic event (., flashbacks), 2) avoidance of
method for measuring automatic amygdala responses to reminders of the event, and 3) generalized hyperarousal
general threat-related stimuli; in conjunction with func- (., exaggerated startle response). Although the patho-
tional ic resonance imaging, we used a passive
physiology of PTSD remains pletely understood,
viewing task involving masked presentations of human
facial stimuli. several lines of evidence converge to implicate the amyg-
dala and related brain structures in this disorder.
Methods: We applied this method to study veterans with
Laboratory fear conditioning represents an experimental
PTSD and parison cohort bat-exposed veter-
ans without PTSD. process that bears striking resemblance to PTSD in terms
of both etiogenesis and phenomenology (Shalev et al