Tanev Kaloyan S, Orr Scott P, Pace-Schott Edward F, Griffin Michael, Pitman Roger K, Resick Patricia A
*Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; †University of Missouri-St. Louis, Department of Psychological Sciences; and ‡Duke University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Durham, NC.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 2017 Apr;205(4):308-312. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000641.
Seventy-three women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from rape or physical assault participated in a loud-tone procedure, while skin conductance (SC), heart rate, and electromyogram responses were recorded. Pearson correlations were examined between each psychophysiological response and Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) symptom scores. Significant correlations were adjusted for each remaining individual PTSD symptom score. Heart rate response (HRR) significantly correlated with CAPS total score and with CAPS nightmares. The relationship between HRR and nightmares remained significant after controlling for each of the other 16 individual PTSD symptoms, for the remaining reexperiencing cluster, and for CAPS total score. The zero-order correlations between SC response and nightmares and between electromyography response and nightmares were both not significant. The association of nightmares with larger HRR in the absence of an association with larger SC response likely reflects reduced parasympathetic tone. Thus, our findings indirectly support a role for reduced parasympathetic tone in PTSD nightmares.
73名因强奸或身体攻击而患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的女性参与了一项高音调程序，同时记录了皮肤电传导（SC）、心率和肌电图反应。研究了每种心理生理反应与临床医生管理的PTSD量表（CAPS）症状评分之间的Pearson相关性。对每个剩余的个体PTSD症状评分进行了显著相关性调整。心率反应（HRR）与CAPS总分及CAPS噩梦显著相关。在控制了其他16种个体PTSD症状、剩余的再体验集群以及CAPS总分后，HRR与噩梦之间的关系仍然显著。SC反应与噩梦之间以及肌电图反应与噩梦之间的零阶相关性均不显著。在与较大的SC反应无关联的情况下，噩梦与较大的HRR相关联，这可能反映了副交感神经张力降低。因此，我们的研究结果间接支持了副交感神经张力降低在PTSD噩梦中的作用。
