Neural activity during response inhibition associated with improvement of dysphoric symptoms of PTSD after trauma-focused psychotherapy—an EEG-fMRI study

• Main Authors: Richard A. Bryant, Thomas Williamson, May Erlinger, Kim L. Felmingham, Gin Malhi, Mark Hinton, Leanne Williams, Mayuresh S. Korgaonkar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021-04-01
• Series: Translational Psychiatry
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01340-8

Abstract Although trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) is the frontline treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), up to one half of patients do not respond optimally to this treatment. Inhibitory functions are important for successful management of PTSD, yet there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the extent to which neural mechanisms unpinning response inhibition are associated with TF-CBT response. Treatment-seeking PTSD patients (n = 40) were assessed during a response inhibition task (the Go/No-Go task) while undergoing functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERP) in separate sessions. PTSD symptom severity was assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, before undergoing nine sessions of TF-CBT. They were then reassessed post-treatment to estimate reduction in fear and dysphoric symptoms of PTSD. Although neural responses during the inhibitory task did not predict overall symptom change, reduced activation in the left precuneus and the right superior parietal cortex predicted greater improvement in dysphoric symptoms. ERP responses during response inhibition indicated that lower P3 peak latency predicted greater reduction of dysphoric symptoms. There were no significant predictors of changes of fear symptoms. These findings indicate that neural activity associated with response inhibition can act as a predictive biomarker of TF-CBT response for PTSD symptoms. This pattern of findings underscores the importance of delineating the role of biomarkers to predict remission of subtypes of PTSD.