Cognitive Deficits Associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Objectives: in addition to the main symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which include reexperience, avoidance and hyperarousal, many patients complain of cognitive deficits and especially in attention and memory. This study was conducted to evaluate the cognitive deficits of survivors of a tragic shooting incident at a frontline guard post. All of the survivors experienced the same accident, and they were homogeneous in terms of age and education level, which are closely associated with cognitive performance. Methods: We recruited 12 survivors who suffered from PTSD following the same traumatic incident and we also recruited 12 normal volunteers, and we assessed their neurocognitive functions with using a vigilance test, a continuous attention test, a reaction unit test and the Corsi block tapping test in the computerized Vienna Test System, as well as an auditory verbal learning test and complex figure test in the Rey-Kim Memory Test. Standardized clinical scales, including the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Scale I and II, were used to assess the involved mental areas and the severity of the PTSD symptoms. Results: the patient group showed significant impairments in continuous attention, and the visual and auditory information processing time on the Vienna test when compared to the control group. the patient group also showed significant impairments in the verbal memory, visual memory and visuospatial function on the Rey-Kim Memory Test. Conclusion: in this study, the author reports on the cognitive impairments in patients with PTSD as measured by computerized neurocognitive tests and memory tests. Future studies are needed to determine the changes in cognitive functioning that are related to symptom improvement, as well as the influence of the therapeutic effects on the cognitive improvement.ope