Rhythms dysregulation: A new perspective for understanding PTSD?

Publication date: Available online 1 February 2017 Source:Journal of Physiology-Paris Author(s): Jacques Dayan, Géraldine Rauchs, Bérengère Guillery-Girard Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex syndrome that may occur after exposure to one or more traumatic events. It associates physiological, emotional, and cognitive changes Brain and hormonal modifications contribute to some impairments in learning, memory, and emotion regulation. Some of these biological dysfunctions may be analyzed in terms of rhythms dysregulation that would be expressed through endocrine rhythmicity, sleep organization, and temporal synchrony in brain activity. In the first part of this article, we report studies on endocrine rhythmicity revealing that some rhythms abnormalities are frequently observed, although not constantly, for both cortisol and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. The most typical changes are a flattening of the diurnal secretion of cortisol and the hyperactivation of the SNS. These results may explain why cognitive functioning, in particular consolidation of emotional memories, attention, learning, vigilance and arousal, is altered in patients with PTSD. The second part of this article focuses on sleep disturbances, one of the core features of PTSD. Abnormal REM sleep reported in various studies may have a pathophysiological role in PTSD and may exacerbate some symptoms such as emotional regulation and memory. In addition, sleep disorders, such as parado...
Source: Journal of Physiology Paris - Category: Physiology Source Type: research