Neural pattern similarity predicts long-term fear memory

Although certain changes in the brain may reflect fear learning, there are no known markers that indicate whether an aversive experience will develop into fear memory. We examined the moment-to-moment dynamics of human fear learning by applying multi-voxel pattern analysis to single-trial blood oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging data. We found that the long-term behavioral expression of fear memory could be predicted from neural patterns at the time of learning.

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Measures and outcomes of a psychosocial group approach in Rwanda

Dit proefschrift betreft verschillende aspecten van een quasi-experimentele, longitudinale studie van een psychosociale groepsaanpak (sociotherapie) in Byumba, Noord-Rwanda. Hierbij is gekeken naar mentale gezondheid, sociaal functioneren, partner geweld en 'sociaal kapitaal', een begrip dat de mate uitdrukt van onderlinge verbondenheid binnen en tussen gemeenschappen, en dat mogelijk van belang is voor zowel maatschappelijk als mentaal herstel na grootschalig geweld.

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Memory traces of trauma : neurocognitive aspects of and therapeutic approaches for posttraumatic stress disorder

Dit proefschrift gaat over de 'sporen' die een traumatische ervaring in het geheugen heeft gegraveerd ('geheugensporen van trauma') als iemand PTSS heeft ontwikkeld.

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Linking post-disaster mental health to the erosion of social fabric

Psychische gevolgen na een natuurramp worden niet alleen bepaald door de traumatische ervaring zelf en de manier waarop individuen omgaan met de gevolgen van de ramp. Zij worden ook bepaald door de destructieve gevolgen van rampen op de context en de sociale gemeenschap waarin getroffen mensen wonen. Het is belangrijk deze complexe factoren te betrekken in rampen-onderzoek. Dit proefschrift wil aantonen dat het kruisvlak tussen individuele variabelen en determinanten in de rampgetroffen context bepaalt of mensen psychische problemen ervaren na een ramp.

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Job Stress and Dyadic Synchrony in Police Marriages: A Preliminary Investigation

Despite reports documenting adverse effects of stress on police marriages, few empirical studies focus on actual emotional behaviors of officers and spouses. In this preliminary investigation, 17 male police officers and their nonpolice wives completed daily stress diaries for 1 week and then participated in a laboratory-based discussion about their respective days. Conversations were video-recorded and coded for specific emotional behaviors reflecting hostility and affection, which are strong predictors of marital outcomes.

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Impaired fear inhibition learning predicts the persistence of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Recent cross-sectional studies have shown that the inability to suppress fear under safe conditions is a key problem in people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current longitudinal study examined whether individual differences in fear inhibition predict the persistence of PTSD symptoms. Approximately 2 months after deployment to Afghanistan, 144 trauma-exposed Dutch soldiers were administered a conditional discrimination task (AX+/BX-). In this paradigm, A, B, and X are neutral stimuli.

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Interaction between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and traumatic childhood events predicts depression

Childhood trauma is associated with the onset and recurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD). The thermolabile T variant of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism (rs1801133) is associated with a limited (oxidative) stress defense. Therefore, C677T MTHFR could be a potential predictor for depressive symptomatology and MDD recurrence in the context of traumatic stress during early life.

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Is the Holocaust Implicated in Posttraumatic Growth in Second-Generation Holocaust Survivors? A Prospective Study

With the growing interest in posttraumatic growth (PTG), and the ongoing debate on the implications of transgenerational transmission of trauma, this longitudinal study examined PTG among Holocaust survivor offspring following their own exposure to trauma. Using self-report questionnaires, we assessed PTG over time in middle aged (age: M = 53 years) Israeli male combat veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War whose parents were (n = 43) and were not (n = 156) second-generation survivors of the Nazi Holocaust at 2 time points: 30 and 35 years following the war (in 2003 and 2008).

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Heterogeneity in threat extinction learning: substantive and methodological considerations for identifying individual difference in response to stress

Pavlovian threat (fear) conditioning (PTC) is an experimental paradigm that couples innate aversive stimuli with neutral cues to elicit learned defensive behavior in response to the neutral cue. PTC is commonly used as a translational model to study neurobiological and behavioral aspects of fear and anxiety disorders including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Though PTSD is a complex multi-faceted construct that cannot be fully captured in animals PTC is a conceptually valid model for studying the development and maintenance of learned threat responses.

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If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together : On context-sensitive group treatment of asylum seekers and refugees traumatized by war and terror

Het proefschrift van Boris Drož?ek presenteert een model voor het begrijpen van posttraumatische gevolgen bij asielzoekers en vluchtelingen. Dit model beschouwt deze gevolgen vanuit het levensloopperspectief van de overlevende en inventariseert zowel de psychologische als de psychosociale en maatschappelijke veranderingen in zijn of haar leefwereld. Op basis van dit model is een groepsbehandeling ontworpen. De behandeling richt zich op zowel de bronnen van veerkracht als op de posttraumatische beschadigingen. De resultaten van deze interventie staan centraal in deze thesis.

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