Enhanced association between perceptual stimuli and trauma-related information in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

• We examined the factors that contribute to the enhanced trauma memory.
• General perceptual processing tendency and trauma-related information were compared.
• Participants performed an associative recognition task.
• The affected group showed memory enhancement for perceptual-trauma pairs.
• Both group showed memory enhancement for perceptual cue words.

Background and objectivesIntrusive memories in traumatized individuals are often triggered by stimuli that are perceptually (rather than conceptually) similar to those present just before or during the trauma. The present study examined whether those individuals with high levels of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms show a memory bias recall to perceptual cues and trauma target words compared to those with low levels of PTSD.MethodsThe sample consisted of 30 adult participants who were involved in motor-vehicle or work-related accidents; 15 of the participants endorsed clinically elevated symptoms of PTSD, while a comparison group of 15 participants reported low levels of symptoms. Participants performed an associative recognition task with conceptual or perceptual cue words and trauma-related or neutral target words. Participants were tested for their recognition accuracy by reporting the corresponding target when a cue was given.ResultsBoth groups performed better for the perceptual word pairs than for the conceptual word pairs, irrespective of the target word type. However, only the high PTSD symptoms group exhibited an additional enhancement in performance for the perceptual word pairs with trauma-related target words.LimitationsA nonclinical sample was utilized for this study; although PTSD was assessed, diagnoses were not confirmed. In addition, there was lack of a healthy non-traumatized control group.ConclusionsThese results provide partial support for the cognitive model and the notion that intrusive memories are specific to the trauma-related event rather than to a general associative learning bias.