EYE-MOVEMENT AND ELECTRODERMAL RESPONSES TO THREAT STIMULI IN POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER

A core feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is hypervigile nce to threatening material. This study measured processing of threat material in PTSD with simultaneously acquired initial eye movements an d electrodermal activity, following presentation of threatening and ne utral words. Ten PTSD subjects and 10 controls were presented with 4 w ords in parafoveal range. On trials in which a threat word was present , PTSD subjects demonstrated initial eye fixations on the threat word more than controls. PTSD subjects also demonstrated more orienting res ponses on all trials than controls. These results suggest that process ing of threat information in PTSD can be usefully investigated with co nvergent psychophysiological methodologies.