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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 ,
DANNY G. KALOUPEK ,
LAURA J. GRANDE ,
WENDY K. STEGMAN ,
CATHERINE J. KUTTER ,
LORAINE LESKIN ,
REBECCA PRESTEL ,
MARIE SCHAER ,
ALLAN L. REISS  and
STEPHAN ELIEZ
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: [email protected]
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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.)

Keywords

PTSDMemoryCognitionHippocampusNeocortexMagnetic resonance imaging
Type
Symposia
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 15 , Issue 6 , November 2009 , pp. 830 - 839
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2009

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