Effects of OEF/OIF-Related Physical and Emotional Co-Morbidities on Associative Learning: Concurrent Delay and Trace Eyeblink Classical Conditioning

Abstract

This study examined the performance of veterans and active duty personnel who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and/or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) on a basic associative learning task. Eighty-eight individuals participated in this study. All received a comprehensive clinical evaluation to determine the presence and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The eyeblink conditioning task was composed of randomly intermixed delay and trace conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) pairs (acquisition) followed by a series of CS only trials (extinction). Results revealed that those with a clinical diagnosis of PTSD or a diagnosis of PTSD with comorbid mTBI acquired delay and trace conditioned responses (CRs) to levels and at rates similar to a deployed control group, thus suggesting intact basic associative learning. Differential extinction impairment was observed in the two clinical groups. Acquisition of CRs for both delay and trace conditioning, as well as extinction of trace CRs, was associated with alcoholic behavior across all participants. These findings help characterize the learning and memory function of individuals with PTSD and mTBI from OEF/OIF and raise the alarming possibility that the use of alcohol in this group may lead to more significant cognitive dysfunction.

Eyeblink classical conditioning and post-traumatic stress disorder – a model systems approach

“…The first report of EBCC in patients with PTSD was a study by Ayers and colleagues using delay conditioning in veterans ( 54 ). A number of other studies followed mostly in veterans ( 55 – 58 ) and one in civilians ( 59 ). The consensus of these studies is that there may be changes in EBCC as a result of PTSD but the effects are quite variable and may involve personality traits ( 57 ).…”

The frequency of alcohol induced disorders in patients treated at the Daily

“…Bez obzira na verbalni pristanak na liječenje i obećanja koja daje članovima obitelji, poslodavcu ili terapeutu, alkoholičar u sebi donosi odluku da tijekom određenog vremena neće konzumirati alkoholna pića, ali kada se tegobe zbog kojih je došao na liječenje smanje, opet će početi konzumirati znatne količine alkoholnih pića. Ako se želi izmijeniti ovakav stav, treba bolesnika podučiti što se može dogoditi ako opet počne konzumirati alkoholna pića [8,9,10,11].…”

“…Što ranije počne zaustavljanje psihobiološkog razvoja, nezrelije je ponašanje osobe, poremećaji ličnosti, smanjeni su obrambeni mehanizami, teža je simptomatologija konzumiranja alkohola te je slabija prognoza liječenja [8,9,10,15,16,17].…”

“…Kod bolesnika koji se prvi put odazivaju na liječenje u ovom pod-stupnju, već su nastale znatne promjene ponašanja, organski i moždani poremećaji [4,5,6,7,8,9] Posljednjih dvadesetak godina bolesnici dolaze na liječenje u stadiju bolesti u kojem su znatno narušeni društveni odnosi -, osobito između članova obitelji, a bolesnik je napušten i sam.…”

Incidence of dementia in Facility for older people in Dubrovnik - inclusion factor

“…Alkoholičar najčešće dolazi na liječenje zbog problema u izvršavanju radnih zadataka, problema u obitelji, oštećenja zdravlja, pod prisilom suda ili policije. Kod bolesnika koji se prvi put odazivaju na liječenje u ovom pod-stupnju, već su nastale znatne promjene ponašanja, organski i moždani poremećaji [4,5,6,7,8,9] Posljednjih dvadesetak godina bolesnici dolaze na liječenje u stadiju bolesti u kojem su znatno narušeni društveni odnosi -, osobito između članova obitelji, a bolesnik je napušten i sam. Uporabom upitnika dobiveni su demografski podatci:spol, dob, bračni status, stručna sprema, zaposlenje.…”