PTSD

Working in strategic partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project, Emory University proposes such a world-class system for veterans in the southeastern United States. Through the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program (EHVP), all veterans will receive an extensive evaluation for conditions including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood disorders, substance use disorders, and Trauma Brain Injury (TBI), including a thorough psychiatric and neurological assessment and complete medical history. Uniform instruments will be employed for measures of functional abilities, quality of life, neurological and psychiatric symptoms, substance use, sleep, pain, and other common problems affecting veterans. Personalized treatment plans will be established based on this evaluation. Each veteran will be assigned a case manager who will explain and discuss the results and assist through each step in his/her personalized treatment plan.

The purpose of this study is to better understand how treatments for PTSD and related mental health issues work from a biological and genetic perspective. The research team hopes this information will help to improve treatment for people with PTSD and related mental health issues.

The purpose of this study is to examine how language and emotions can be identified and analyzed using computer applications and software.  Better understanding our spoken language and expressed emotions during therapy may play a role in improving therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other related mental health issues. This study will gain knowledge and understanding about the effects Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy has on PTSD and other related mental health issues.  This study will examine recordings, using computer software, to distinguish emotions detected through facial expressions, analyze word choice and how those words were spoken, analyze data of skin changes using eSense software and sensors used during therapy, and analyze self-report data of distress collected during sessions.  The research team hopes this information will help to improve treatment for people with PTSD and related mental health issues.

This study uses High-Resolution Positron Emission Tommography (HR-PET) in patients with PTSD exposed to scripts of traumatic memories to look at release of dopamine in the brain. We also correlate activity in the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and biomarkers in the blood related to inflammation. There are two scan days. Dopamine plays an important role in reward systems in the brain and this study will help us understand the neurobiology of traumatic memories which will help develop new treatments.

Contact: Patty Alavi Email (404) 712-8091

This study looks at non-invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation (nVNS) in patients with Opioid Use Disorders (OUDs). Our prior studies showed that nVNS blocks sympathetic responses to traumatic scripts in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Patients with OUDs in withdrawal, similar to PTSD patients, have increased peripheral sympathetic nervous system function that leads to withdrawal symptoms, like racing heart, dry mouth, anxiety, pale dry skin, and so on. By blocking this response we hope to alleviate withdrawal and promote recovery. We are looking for OUD patients in withdrawal, either seeking treatment or otherwise. There are two studies, both involving nVNS compared to a sham stimulation while viewing videos of using opioids, one involves measurement of autonomic function, the other brain imaging and measurement of biomarkers in blood.

Contact: Patty Alavi Email (404) 712-8091

The goal of this study is to significantly contribute to the advancement of new treatment approaches for PTSD and better understand the mechanisms of TMS by: 

• Examining the effect of TMS on PTSD neuroimaging and psychophysiological biomarkers.
• Specifying the exact location for the TMS treatment by using pre-treatment MRI scans. 

Any PTSD patient who is not currently receiving other treatment could express interest in our study. Our desired sample will consist of 60 patients with PTSD.  Learn more at the Grady Trauma Project. 

In this project, we will investigate the role of sex hormones in contributing to women’s risk for PTSD. The gonadal hormone estradiol (E2) has previously been associated with emotion regulation and fear extinction in rodent and healthy human studies, mediated by plasticity in pathways between the amygdala and regulatory inputs from the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Women with PTSD show clear deficits in regulating emotional arousal, and in fear extinction learning.

Learn more at the Grady Trauma Project. 

Mindfulness is about being in the present moment on purpose, non-judgmentally and with full awareness. Mindfulness-based interventions have been found to be helpful for a wide range of mental and physical health problems, including depression and PTSD. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be especially helpful for trauma-exposed individuals with both PTSD and depression because it may help to improve emotion dysregulation and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which both contribute to trauma-related psychological outcomes like PTSD and depression. 

Learn more at the Grady Trauma Project. 

The purpose of this study is to pilot a DBT for moms to be mindfulness intervention for trauma-exposed Black pregnant women with PTSD or depression symptoms. The study will utilize a randomized controlled trial design along with a multi-method psychological and physiological assessment approach to establish the feasibility and acceptability of an 8-session DBT intervention that is trauma-informed and culturally responsive in its approach. Preliminary mechanisms of action associated with DBT including emotion dysregulation and autonomic function will be evaluated. 

Learn more at the Grady Trauma Project.

People exposed to chronic trauma face devastating effects to the brain and body. Chronically traumatized people become highly distressed when attending to emotional stimuli, which can lead to feelings of detachment from their bodies and environment. It is difficult to engage highly dissociative traumatized patients in trauma-focused treatment; however, these patients benefit from acquiring basic emotion regulation skills, including present-centeredness and body awareness. Various practices that involve present-centeredness and body awareness (including mindfulness-based interventions) have been shown to demonstrate short-term and long-term improvement in cognition, emotion regulation and clinical symptoms in dissociative people with trauma exposure.

In order to address this issue, the researchers will evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that engage present-centered awareness and/or body focus.

Learn more at the Grady Trauma Project.