This was a relatively short study on reducing the symptoms of PTSD. Previous research concluded a threatening stimulus would ellicit an increase in amygdala activity and a decrease in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) activity is present when reducing these fear responses. In order to eliminate the fear response, the vmPFC must inhibit, or control, the "amygdala based fear responses." The hypothesis of the current study is "symptom reduction would be associated with increased rACC, or rostral anterior cingulate cortex, activity and reduced amygdala activity during fear processing." During "threat processing" the activity in the rACC is also reduced. The researchers recruited eight individuals with PTSD, four of which were victims of assault and another four who were in a car accident. Each subject was given the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) to determine symptoms of their disorder. Afterwards, they each underwent "8 once-weekly sessions of imaginal exposure and cognitive restructuring." An MRI scan was performed before and 6 months after the treatment. Participants watched 120 fear-inducing and 120 neutral facial expressions. They analyzed the blood-oxygenated-level-dependent (BOLD) data. Change in BOLD between the responses to fear and neutral images was analyzed by a repeated mearsures ANOVA. Their hypothesis was confirmed, because their results showed a significant difference in levels, determining there was indeed reduced amygdala and increased rACC activity. This discovery "indicates that the neural correlates of fear processing after improvement in PTSD symptoms accord with evidence that the amygdala and rACC activity underlie the acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear." The researchers propose in order for this to generalize to the PTSD population, a larger sample should be drawn and a control condition utilized in future studies.
Though this study deals with a stress-disorder and not academic stress, the implications are still noteworthy and should be helpful in further stress research.
Felmingham, K., Kemp, A., Williams, L., Das, P., Hughes, G., Peduto, A., & Bryant, R. (2007).
Changes in anterior cingulate and amygdala after cognitive behavior therapy of posttraumatic stress disorder. Association for Psychological Science, 18(2), 127-129.Retrieved from EbscoHost. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01860.x
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