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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
The Pathogenesis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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The Pathogenesis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2016) | Viewed by 12663

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Zhewu Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Interests: posttraumatic stress disorder; heterogeneity; biomarker; endophenotype; genetics; epigenetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex disorder with heterogeneous symptoms, which range from emotional despair to cognitive impairments related to trauma exposure. As currently understood, PTSD and other stress-related outcomes originate from a complex interplay of genetic vulnerability, environmental traumatic exposure, and other biological risk factors. Over the past several decades, research concerning the etiology of PTSD has grown significantly, from epidemiologic surveys to biological investigations, from candidate gene studies to genome-wide association and epigenetic studies. However, many questions regarding PTSD remain unanswered, and the positive findings in some studies have not been replicated. The inability to identify a unique mechanism that causes PTSD is largely due to the heterogeneous nature of the disorder, which suggests the possibility of multiple neurobiological mechanisms underlying the disorder’s etiology. One emerging strategy that may address these obstacles is the identification of biomarkers, or endophenotypes. These biomarkers may represent underlying PTSD core psychopathology, and provide opportunities to identify susceptible genes for PTSD risk and symptom progression.

To this end, the following Special Issue will feature articles that address the biological and genetic mechanisms connecting trauma exposure to PTSD development, with a special emphasis on articles that focus on identifying promising PTSD biomarkers associated with disease risk and symptom progression. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: genetics, epigenetics, pharmacogenetics, neurobiology, neuropathology, neurophysiology, brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience, psychological interventions, and translational research.

Prof. Dr. Zhewu Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • Posttraumatic stress disorder
  • heterogeneity
  • Biomarker
  • Endophenotype
  • Genetics
  • Epigenetics

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Article
Inhibitory Control under Threat: The Role of Spontaneous Eye Blinks in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
by Mikael Rubin, Denise A. Hien, Dipanjana Das and Robert D. Melara
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7020016 - 4 Feb 2017
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5840
Abstract
This study is the first to explore spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We investigated the connection between the magnitude of flanker interference in PTSD participants and sEBR during performance on a modified version of the Eriksen [...] Read more.
This study is the first to explore spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We investigated the connection between the magnitude of flanker interference in PTSD participants and sEBR during performance on a modified version of the Eriksen flanker task. As a peripheral measure of cognitive control and dopaminergic function, sEBR may illuminate the relationship between PTSD and executive function. Findings revealed a positive relationship between sEBR and flanker interference in participants diagnosed with PTSD, to both threat-related and neutral stimuli, whereas this relationship was negative in participants exposed to trauma but without PTSD and in healthy controls. Although our results are suggestive of sEBR as a potential physiological index of emotional management in PTSD, most of the correlations were not significant, indicating that further research with a larger sample is needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Pathogenesis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD))
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242 KiB  
Article
Relationships between GAT1 and PTSD, Depression, and Substance Use Disorder
by Kaitlin E. Bountress, Wei Wei, Christina Sheerin, Dongjun Chung, Ananda B. Amstadter, Howard Mandel and Zhewu Wang
Brain Sci. 2017, 7(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7010006 - 5 Jan 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5881
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) have large public health impacts. Therefore, researchers have attempted to identify those at greatest risk for these phenotypes. PTSD, MDD, and SUD are in part genetically influenced. Additionally, genes in [...] Read more.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) have large public health impacts. Therefore, researchers have attempted to identify those at greatest risk for these phenotypes. PTSD, MDD, and SUD are in part genetically influenced. Additionally, genes in the glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system are implicated in the encoding of emotional and fear memories, and thus may impact these phenotypes. The current study examined the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms in GAT1 individually, and at the gene level, using a principal components (PC) approach, with PTSD, PTSD comorbid with MDD, and PTSD comorbid with SUD in 486 combat-exposed veterans. Findings indicate that several GAT1 SNPs, as well as one of the GAT1 PCs, was associated with PTSD, with and without MDD and SUD comorbidity. The present study findings provide initial insights into one pathway by which shared genetic risk influences PTSD-MDD and PTSD-SUD comorbidities, and thus identify a high-risk group (based on genotype) on whom prevention and intervention efforts should be focused. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Pathogenesis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD))
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