%0 Journal Article
%T Inhibitory control under threat: the role of spontaneous eye blinks in post-traumatic stress disorder
%J Brain sciences
%D 2017
%A Rubin, Mikael
%A Hien, Denise
%A Das, Dipanjana
%A Melara, Robert
%V 7
%N 2
%P e16-e16
%X This study is the first to explore spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We investigated the connection between the magnitude of flanker interference in PTSD participants and sEBR during performance on a modified version of the Eriksen flanker task. As a peripheral measure of cognitive control and dopaminergic function, sEBR may illuminate the relationship between PTSD and executive function. <br><br>FINDINGS revealed a positive relationship between sEBR and flanker interference in participants diagnosed with PTSD, to both threat-related and neutral stimuli, whereas this relationship was negative in participants exposed to trauma but without PTSD and in healthy controls. Although our results are suggestive of sEBR as a potential physiological index of emotional management in PTSD, most of the correlations were not significant, indicating that further research with a larger sample is needed.   Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder; spontaneous eye blink rate; trauma exposure; flanker interference; cognitive control; inhibitory control<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Switzerland Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) AG
%@ 2076-3425
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci7020016