99 results match your criteria: "Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders (TRACTS)[Affiliation]"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the biological differences linked to PTSD by examining DNA methylation changes in blood, suggesting they could indicate susceptibility or effects of trauma.
  • Conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, the research included nearly 5,100 participants to identify specific genetic markers associated with PTSD.
  • Results showed 11 significant CpG sites related to PTSD, with some also showing correlations between blood and brain tissue methylation, highlighting their potential role in understanding PTSD biology.
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Introduction: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common among Veterans but overlapping symptoms with other prevalent psychiatric disorders (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) complicate diagnosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD), leading to fewer emergency and hospital visits but a rise in fatal overdoses among veterans.
  • - A study compared veterans with OUD before and after the pandemic, finding significant decreases in emergency and inpatient care usage, as well as fewer recorded non-fatal overdoses during the pandemic.
  • - Despite the drop in non-fatal overdoses, the data indicated an increase in fatal overdoses, suggesting that healthcare access disruptions during the pandemic may have hidden the actual risks and needs for treatment among this population.
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Using narratives to reflect on experiences, emotions, and thoughts is associated with better health, enhanced mood, and improved symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior research examining narrative characteristics thought to reflect cognitive styles associated with PTSD has focused on trauma narratives, but the characteristics of nontrauma narratives in relation to PTSD are not fully understood. We reviewed the PTSD literature examining linguistic characteristics of nontrauma narratives, focusing on affective content, personal pronouns, and cognitive processing words.

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Attentional bias and deficits in attentional control are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Attention control training (ACT) may address these factors. We reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ACT for PTSD to address unanswered questions about ACT's effectiveness, tolerability, and implementation.

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Metabolic syndrome is a collection of health factors that increases risk for cardiovascular disease. A condition of aging, metabolic syndrome is associated with reduced brain network integrity, including functional connectivity alterations among the default mode, regions vulnerable to neurodegeneration. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome is elevated in younger populations including post-9/11 Veterans and individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder, but it is unclear whether metabolic syndrome affects brain function in earlier adulthood.

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Large-scale cohort and epidemiological studies suggest that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) confers risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD); however, the basis for this association remains unclear. Several prior studies of military Veterans have reported that carriers of the apolipoprotein E () ε4 gene variant are at heightened risk for the development of PTSD following combat exposure, suggesting that PTSD and ADRD may share some genetic risk. This cohort study was designed to further examine the hypothesis that ADRD genetic risk also confers risk for PTSD.

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Women veterans (WVs) are more likely than men veterans to experience traumatic brain injury (TBI) from causes unrelated to deployment. Yet, current Veterans Health Administration (VHA) TBI screening focuses on deployment. This study examines the utility of the VHA TBI screening tool for WVs.

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Metabolic syndrome has been associated with reduced brain white matter integrity in older individuals. However, less is known about how metabolic syndrome might impact white matter integrity in younger populations. This study examined metabolic syndrome-related global and regional white matter integrity differences in a sample of 537 post-9/11 Veterans.

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Background: Poor sleep quality has been associated with changes in brain volume among veterans, particularly those who have experienced mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study sought to investigate (1) whether poor sleep quality is associated with decreased cortical thickness in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and (2) whether these associations differ topographically depending on the presence or absence of mTBI and PTSD.

Methods: A sample of 440 post-9/11 era U.

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Subjective cognitive concerns, APOE ε4, PTSD symptoms, and risk for dementia among older veterans.

Alzheimers Res Ther

June 2024

National Center for PTSD, Behavioral Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Ave (116B-2), Boston, MA, 02130, USA.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are associated with self-reported problems with cognition as well as risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Overlapping symptom profiles observed in cognitive disorders, psychiatric disorders, and environmental exposures (e.g.

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Background: Cognitive symptoms are often reported by those with a history of COVID-19 infection. No comprehensive meta-analysis of neurocognitive outcomes related to COVID-19 exists despite the influx of studies after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study meta-analysed observational research comparing cross-sectional neurocognitive outcomes in adults with COVID-19 (without severe medical/psychiatric comorbidity) to healthy controls (HCs) or norm-referenced data.

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Posttraumatic survivor guilt is associated with white matter microstructure alterations.

J Affect Disord

September 2024

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton, MA, USA; Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. Electronic address:

Background: Military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly experience posttraumatic guilt. Guilt over commission or omission evolves when responsibility is assumed for an unfortunate outcome (e.g.

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Article Synopsis
  • Many veterans experience intimate partner violence (IPV) and risk factors for this include things like combat experiences, PTSD, and depression.
  • The study looked at 49 male veterans to see if problems in their brain, specifically in the limbic system, relate to their likelihood of committing IPV.
  • Results showed that veterans with PTSD, depression, or other issues were more likely to engage in IPV, especially if they had more stress from war.
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Little research focuses on physical health outcomes of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among post-9/11 women veterans (WVs). This study examined lifetime TBI, current PTSD, and their associations with biomarkers of cardiometabolic health, sleep, pain, and functional disability among post-9/11 WVs. WVs ( = 90) from the Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders longitudinal cohort study were included in this study.

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Associations Between Head Injury, Strangulation, Cardiometabolic Health, and Functional Disability Among Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

Womens Health Issues

March 2024

National Center for PTSD Women's Health Sciences Division at VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.

Objective: Head injury and strangulation are highly prevalent in intimate partner violence (IPV) contexts, but there is little research examining the potential implications of these injuries on physical health and functional status. This pilot study explored the extent to which injury type (head injury, strangulation) and severity (no injury, subconcussive head injury, traumatic brain injury; no strangulation, strangulation, strangulation with loss of consciousness) were associated with biomarkers of cardiometabolic health and self-reported functioning among female survivors of IPV.

Methods: Participants were 51 individuals assigned female at birth who experienced IPV during their lifetime and screened positive for probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (average age = 32.

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Adolescence represents a critical period of neural development during which binge drinking (BD) is prevalent. Though prior work has shown that white matter (WM) integrity is susceptible to damage from excessive alcohol intake in adults, the effect of early adolescent BD on WM health in adulthood remains unknown. Veterans with a history of BD onset before age 15 [n = 49; mean age = 31.

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This study examined sex-specific associations between sexual violence (SV) type and physical activity, and identified associations between PTSD symptoms and physical activity, all among cisgender men and women survivors of SV. Cross-sectional data from men (n = 197) and women (n = 356) survivors of SV were analyzed with stratified (men; women) hierarchical logistic regressions. Additionally, fully adjusted models for the total sample included interaction terms to further assess whether associations between SV type as well as PTSD symptoms (sum, clusters) and physical activity differed significantly by sex.

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Article Synopsis
  • Visuospatial processing speed is crucial for everyday tasks like driving and walking, but its performance throughout life isn't fully understood, especially in online testing settings.
  • A new task called VIPS (Visuospatial Processing Speed) was created to assess this speed by combining orientation discrimination and visual search, with results showing strong links to cognitive functions like attention and memory.
  • Data from over 4,000 volunteers revealed that visuospatial processing speed peaks in the early 20s and declines significantly by age 60, correlating with self-reported cognitive issues and mobility challenges in middle-aged individuals, highlighting the need for early detection and intervention.
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An online, cross-sectional survey of women survivors of sexual violence (SV; = 355) gathered information on perceived barriers and benefits of exercise, along with exercise level and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. This study reports exercise perceptions and provides comparisons by exercise level and PTSD status. Differences by exercise level were found in life enhancement, physical performance, psychological outlook, and social interaction (< 0.

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Sleep disturbances are strongly associated with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD and mTBI have been linked to alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure, but whether poor sleep quality has a compounding effect on WM remains largely unknown. We evaluated sleep and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) data from 180 male post-9/11 veterans diagnosed with (1) PTSD ( = 38), (2) mTBI ( = 25), (3) comorbid PTSD+mTBI ( = 94), and (4) a control group with neither PTSD nor mTBI ( = 23).

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Poorer Inhibitory Control Uniquely Contributes to Greater Functional Disability in Post-9/11 Veterans.

Arch Clin Neuropsychol

August 2023

Boston Attention and Learning (BAL) Lab, VA Boston Health Care System, Boston, MA, USA.

Objective: Post-9/11 Veterans endorse greater self-reported functional disability than 80% of the adult population. Previous studies of trauma-exposed populations have shown that increased post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms are consistently associated with greater disability. Additionally, poorer cognitive performance in the domain of executive functions, particularly inhibitory control, has been associated with disability, though it is unclear if this effect is independent of and/or interacts with PTSD and depression.

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Genetic Risk for Alzheimer Disease and Plasma Tau Are Associated With Accelerated Parietal Cortex Thickness Change in Middle-Aged Adults.

Neurol Genet

February 2023

Department of Psychology (J.P.H., K.V.), The Ohio State University, & Chronic Brain Injury Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus; Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders (TRACTS) (M.E.P., E.B., D.S., J.C., W.M., R.M.), VA Boston Healthcare System, MA; Department of Psychiatry (M.E.P., M.W.L., M.W.M., B.R.H.), Boston University School of Medicine, MA; Neuroimaging Research for Veterans (NeRVe) Center (E.B., D.S., J.C., W.M., R.M.), VA Boston Healthcare System, MA; Brain Aging and Dementia (BAnD) Laboratory (D.S.), A. A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown; National Center for PTSD (M.W.L., M.W.M., B.R.H.), Behavioral Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, MA; Boston University School of Medicine (M.W.L., R.S.), Biomedical Genetics, MA; Boston University School of Public Health (M.W.L.), Department of Biostatistics, MA; Department of Neurology (B.R.H.), Boston University School of Medicine, MA; Geriatric Research (W.M., R.M.), Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Boston Healthcare System, MA; and Department of Psychiatry (W.M., R.M.), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Background And Objectives: Neuroimaging and biomarker studies in Alzheimer disease (AD) have shown well-characterized patterns of cortical thinning and altered biomarker concentrations of tau and β-amyloid (Aβ). However, earlier identification of AD has great potential to advance clinical care and determine candidates for drug trials. The extent to which AD risk markers relate to cortical thinning patterns in midlife is unknown.

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