New findings on the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder

✍ Scribed by Matthew J. Friedman; Roger K. Pitman

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 52 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.20299

✦ Synopsis

When Paula Schnurr asked us to guest edit this special issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress, we did not really know how many biologically oriented investigators would take advantage of this opportunity. We are pleased to report that the response was overwhelming. Although space limits publication to 11 articles, many of the other submitted manuscripts were of high quality and are sure to be published elsewhere in more specialized journals.

We are also pleased that the variety of articles included in this issue reflects the wide spectrum of conceptual and methodological approaches in the field. As expected, several articles carry on older traditions of psychophysiological and neurohormonal research. Others focus on memory, genetics, and brain imaging. Some articles exemplify new conceptual concerns. For example, two studies investigated acute rather than chronic posttraumatic reactions. Two physiological studies highlight the potential importance of parasympathetic rather than traditionally emphasized sympathetic reactions. Another report extends the scriptdriven psychophysiological paradigm to functional brain imaging. Finally, two studies explore the consequences of traumatic exposure on healthy women and cancer survivors without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), respectively.