News
New PTSD Sleep Disturbance Product Receives FDA Clearance
Media Article
November 18th, 2020 | via Forbes
Army sees sharp increase in suicides during coronavirus pandemic
Media Article
October 1st, 2020 | via CNN
Brain Injuries Are Common In Battle. The Military Has No Reliable Test For Them.
Media Article
February 15th, 2020 | via NY Times
FCC unanimously approves proposal for new 3-digit number as Suicide Prevention Hotline
Media Article
December 12th, 2019 | via CNN
Chronic opioid pretreatment potentiates the sensitization of fear learning by trauma
Research Article
Pennington, Z.T., Trott, J.M., et al. (2019)
Neuropsychopharmacology (e-pub).
Abstract
Despite the large comorbidity between PTSD and opioid use disorders, as well as the common treatment of physical injuries resulting from trauma with opioids, the ability of opioid treatments to subsequently modify PTSD-related behavior has not been well studied. Using the stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) model for PTSD, we characterized the impact of chronic opioid regimens on the sensitization of fear learning seen following traumatic stress in mice. We demonstrate for the first time that chronic opioid pretreatment is able to robustly augment associative fear learning. Highlighting aversive learning as the cognitive process mediating this behavioral outcome, these changes were observed after a considerable period of drug cessation, generalized to learning about multiple aversive stimuli, were not due to changes in stimulus sensitivity or basal anxiety, and correlated with a marker of synaptic plasticity within the basolateral amygdala. Additionally, these changes were not observed when opioids were given after the traumatic event. Moreover, we found that neither reducing the frequency of opioid administration nor bidirectional manipulation of acute withdrawal impacted the subsequent enhancement in fear learning seen. Given the fundamental role of associative fear learning in the generation and progression of PTSD, these findings are of direct translational relevance to the comorbidity between opioid dependence and PTSD, and they are also pertinent to the use of opioids for treating pain resulting from traumas involving physical injuries.
First responders struggle with PTSD caused by the emergencies, deaths, tragedies they face every day
Media Article
October 26, 2019 | via The Washington Post
Women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from PTSD. Studies are underway to find out why.
Media Article
October 19, 2019 | via The Washington Post
PTSD Linked to Increased Risk of Stroke in Younger Adults
Media Article
October 17, 2019 | via US News & World Report
Study reveals lasting effects of sexual assault among female veterans
Media Article
September 25, 2019 | via NBC News
Three Suicides in One Navy Ship’s Crew Point to a Growing Problem
Media Article
September 24, 2019 | via NY Times
Veterans Agency to Offer New Depression Drug, Despite Cost and Safety Concerns
Media Article
June 21, 2019 | via NY Times