Cumulative trauma load and timing of trauma prior to military deployment differentially influences inhibitory control processing across deployment

Miller, L.N.Forbes, D.McFarlane, A.C.Lawrence-Wood, E.Simmons, J.G.Felmingham, K.2024-07-292024-07-292023Scientific Reports, 2023; 13(1):21414-1-21414-142045-23222045-2322https://hdl.handle.net/2440/141711Military personnel experience high trauma load that can change brain circuitry leading to impaired inhibitory control and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Inhibitory control processing may be particularly vulnerable to developmental and interpersonal trauma. This study examines the differential role of cumulative pre-deployment trauma and timing of trauma on inhibitory control using the Go/NoGo paradigm in a military population. The Go/NoGo paradigm was administered to 166 predominately male army combat personnel at pre- and post-deployment. Linear mixed models analyze cumulative trauma, trauma onset, and post-deployment PTSD symptoms on NoGo-N2 and NoGo-P3 amplitude and latency across deployment. Here we report, NoGo-N2 amplitude increases and NoGo-P3 amplitude and latency decreases in those with high prior interpersonal trauma across deployment. Increases in NoGo-P3 amplitude following adolescent-onset trauma and NoGo-P3 latency following childhood-onset and adolescent-onset trauma are seen across deployment. Arousal symptoms positively correlated with conflict monitoring. Our findings support the cumulative trauma load and sensitive period of trauma exposure models for inhibitory control processing in a military population. High cumulative interpersonal trauma impacts conflict monitoring and response suppression and increases PTSD symptoms whereas developmental trauma differentially impacts response suppression. This research highlights the need for tailored strategies for strengthening inhibitory control, and that consider timing and type of trauma in military personnel.en© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Military deployment; traumaBrainHumansLinear ModelsStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdolescentChildMilitary PersonnelMaleMilitary DeploymentCumulative trauma load and timing of trauma prior to military deployment differentially influences inhibitory control processing across deploymentJournal article10.1038/s41598-023-48505-72024-07-26679064McFarlane, A.C. [0000-0002-3829-9509]Lawrence-Wood, E. [0000-0003-4643-6232]