A chink in the armor: The influence of training on generalization learning impairments after viewing traumatic stimuli.

A chink in the armor: The influence of training on generalization learning impairments after viewing traumatic stimuli. Cognition. 2019 Aug 13;193:104021 Authors: Haim-Nachum S, Levy-Gigi E Abstract Studies have demonstrated that similarly to individuals with PTSD, non-PTSD individuals with repeated traumatic-exposure display selective impairments in hippocampal-related functions. A central example is their impaired generalization learning. Interestingly, previous findings revealed that the nature of this impairment varied as a function of occupation; while firefighters display impaired generalization of negative context, police crime scene investigators (CSI) display impaired generalization of negative cue. One possible explanation for these discrepancies may relate to the different job requirements and unique training. Specifically, firefighters are primed to regard the context during traumatic events whereas CSI police are primed to regard specific objects (cues) in the environment. The aim of the present study was to examine the interactive effect of exposure and training on generalization learning. Eighty-two healthy volunteers were exposed to either neutral or traumatic images while receiving instructions to refer either to the images' general contexts or to their specific cues. It was found that while both groups equally acquired and retained stimulus-outcome associations, only participants who were exposed to traumatic images...
Source: Cognition - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Cognition Source Type: research