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Hippocampal volume and declarative memory function in combat-related PTSD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2009

STEVEN H. WOODWARD*
Affiliation:
Dissemination and Training Division, National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
DANNY G. KALOUPEK
Affiliation:
Behavioral Science Division, National Center for PTSD, VA New England Health Care System, Boston, Massachusetts Division of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
LAURA J. GRANDE
Affiliation:
Psychology Service, VA New England Health Care System, Boston, Massachusetts
WENDY K. STEGMAN
Affiliation:
Earth Systems, Melbourne, Australia
CATHERINE J. KUTTER
Affiliation:
Psychology Service, White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center, White River Junction, Vermont
LORAINE LESKIN
Affiliation:
Psychology Service, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Los Angeles, California
REBECCA PRESTEL
Affiliation:
Behavioral Science Division, National Center for PTSD, VA New England Health Care System, Boston, Massachusetts
MARIE SCHAER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Signal Processing Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland
ALLAN L. REISS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California
STEPHAN ELIEZ
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Steven H. Woodward, Ph.D., Dissemination and Training Division, National Center for PTSD, Mail Code 334 PTSD, VA Palo Alto HCS, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304. E-mail: steve.woodward@va.gov

Abstract

The proposition that declarative memory deficits are systematically related to smaller hippocampal volume was tested in a relatively large sample (n = 95) of U.S. military veterans with and without combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. This correlative analysis was extended by including multiple measures of verbal and visual declarative memory and multiple memory-relevant regional brain volumes that had been shown to exhibit main effects of PTSD in prior work. Small-to-moderate effects were observed on verbal declarative memory in line with a recent meta-analysis; nevertheless, little or no evidence of systematic linear covariation between memory measures and brain volumes was observed. (JINS, 2009, 15, 830–839.)

Type
Symposia
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2009

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References

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