Cognitive and Emotional Factors in Visual Exploration Among Patients With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (SAILLANCE2)

University Hospital, Lille

Status: Completed

Conditions: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03519789

2013_19.2

2013-A01498-37 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by hypervigilance. In particular, previous works suggest that patients tend to scan constantly the environment for possible threats. The present project aims at investigating such attentional bias in patients with PTSD using the change blindness paradigm that offers the interesting possibility of studying sensitivity to sudden changes using ecological stimuli. More precisely, the investigators will investigate whether patients are more sensitive than matched controls to sudden changes in the visual environment and whether this hypersensitivity is specific or even stronger when visual information has an emotional content. The attentional bias will be measured using motor responses (accuracy and speed to indicate the occurrence of a change by pressing a button) as well as eye movements.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• a diagnosis of PTSD based on the standard DSM-IV criteria,
• normal or corrected vision.
• clinically stable at the testing time

Exclusion criteria

• history of neurological illness or trauma that occurred in the previous six months, - pregnant and nursing women,
• drugs use in the last 24 hours,
• an acute ocular disorder.
• Participants will not be under tutorship, curatorship or deprived of liberty.

Trial design

80 participants in 2 patient groups

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD)

Description:

30 patients with PTSD (diagnosis based on the standard DSM criteria)

Controls

Description:

30 healthy controls without any psychiatric or neurological diagnosis