Neurobiology of Sleep and Sleep Treatment Response in Returning Veterans
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2012-11-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The overarching objectives of this study are: 1) To investigate the neurobiology of
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye
Movement (NREM) sleep relative to wakefulness; 2) To identify the neurobiological
underpinnings of sleep treatment response to prazosin or placebo during wakefulness, REM
sleep, and NREM sleep in Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) (
veterans with PTSD; and 3) To explore pre-treatment brain activity patterns during
wakefulness, REM sleep, and NREM sleep that predict sleep treatment response. We will also
explore the stability of the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) signal by comparing pre- and
post-placebo changes in brain glucose metabolism in non-responders. For non-PTSD veterans,
the stability of the PET signal will be evaluated in a subsample of 6 veterans without PTSD
who will repeat the PET imaging procedures 8 weeks after the initial PET series.
The overarching hypothesis is that PTSD is characterized by neurobiological alterations in
the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and brain centers involved in the regulation
of NREM and REM sleep, and that these neurobiological changes are normalized with effective
sleep treatment.