Functional Neuroimaging

To date, no empirical data are available which could explain how dissociation arises and which neurobiological alterations characterize it. The current proposal seeks to employ an experimental design using fMRI to test a causal hypothesis of the etiology of dissociation and to determine dissociation-induced alterations in neural activations. To this end, PTSD patients with and without dissociative symptoms will undergo a placebo-controlled, pharmacological challenge paradigm in the scanner. In the placebo condition, the naturally evoked dissociation will be analyzed with regard to neuronal alterations in a between-group design. The combination of two exposure paradigms (subliminal and supraliminal) enables the analysis of group differences concerning both the initial bottom-up processes and the regulatory top-down activation. Individual activation differences in the amygdala between the placebo and agent conditions during subliminal exposure will be employed as a predictor of activation differences in prefrontal regulation areas during supraliminal exposure.

Main project

This project is part of project "Neurobiology of Dissociation".

Researchers and partners

Behavioural and Social Sciences, Psychology

• Dr. Judith Daniels, Clinical Psychology

Partners outside of the University of Groningen

• Antje Manthey, Charite Berlin
• Anika Sierk, Charite Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Dr. Henrik Walter, Charite Berlin

Results

Publications

• Daniels, J.K., Hegadoren, K., Coupland, N.J., Neufeld, R.J. & Lanius, R. (2012). Neural and behavioural correlates of peritraumatic dissociation in an acutely traumatized sample. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 73(4):420-6.
• Mickleborough, M.J.*, Daniels, J.K.*, Coupland, N.J., Kao, R., Williamson, P.C., Hegadoren, K., Schore, A., Densmore, M., Todd, S. & Lanius, R.A. (2011). The effects of trauma-related cues on pain processing in PTSD: a fMRI investigation. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 36(1), 6-14.