Brain Circuit Dysfunction in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (1 CE)

Number of Credits: 1

This course is for:  Clinical Psychologists, Counselors, and Nurses

Course By: Tim Grigsby, PhD

Content By: Fenster, R. J., Lebois, L. A., Ressler, K. J., & Suh, J. (2018). Brain circuit dysfunction in post-traumatic stress disorder: From mouse to man. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 19(9), 535-551.

Course Description: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complicated mental health problem linked to multiple adverse outcomes, including suicide. While effective treatments for PTSD have been identified, some individuals do not experience improvement following intervention. The goal of this course is to introduce readers to brain regions impacted by PTSD and the role of understanding neurobiological changes to advance therapeutic discovery. The researchers review a wealth of animal and human preclinical research and identify commonly impacted brain regions, clusters of PTSD symptomology, and translational knowledge that will be useful for future treatment development and refinement.

Learning Objectives:

1. List the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder
2. Identify common brain regions associated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptomology
3. Critically analyze the neurobiological changes resulting from post-traumatic stress disorder in relation to prevention and treatment efforts

Course Outline:

• Read and understand Brain circuit dysfunction in post-traumatic stress disorder: From mouse to man
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
• Reflect on the brain regions that experience dysfunction following traumatic events leading to post-traumatic stress disorder
• Work through the post-test questions; keep in mind that answer selections should be derived from the respective article
• Return to the referenced article for any missed questions and/or to better understand how post-traumatic stress disorder can impact our neurobiology and the need for brain circuit research to advance therapeutic solutions

Implicit biases incorporate an association that occurs outside of conscious awareness that may resultantly lead to a negative patient evaluation derived from irrelevant characteristics; i.e. gender and/or race. A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Thirty-five studies identified the existence of implicit bias in healthcare professionals; all correlational studies evidenced a significant positive relationship between implicit bias levels and lower quality of care (FitzGerald & Hurst, 2017). Continued research in health care settings, combined with greater method homogeneity, should be employed to examine the occurrence and prevalence of implicit biases in healthcare settings as a strategic approach for mitigating related disparities (FitzGerald & Hurst, 2017).

Reference:

FitzGerald, C., Hurst, S. (2017). Implicit bias in healthcare professionals: A systematic review. BMC Med Ethics 18, 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0179-8

Approvals: