Impaired allocentric spatial processing in posttraumatic stress disorder
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A neurobiological dual representation model of PTSD proposes that reduced hippocampus-dependent contextual processing contributes to intrusive imagery due to a loss of control over hippocampus-independent sensory and affective representations. We investigated whether PTSD sufferers show impaired allocentric spatial processing indicative of reduced hippocampal functioning. Trauma-exposed individuals with (N=29) and without (N=30) a diagnosis of PTSD completed two tests of spatial processing: a topographical recognition task comprising perceptual and memory components, and a test of memory for objects' locations within a virtual environment in which the test is from either the same viewpoint as presentation (solvable with egocentric memory) or a different viewpoint (requiring allocentric memory). Participants in the PTSD group performed significantly worse on allocentric spatial processing than trauma-exposed controls. Groups performed comparably on egocentric memory and non-spatial memory for lists of objects. Exposure to repeated incident trauma was also associated with significantly worse spatial processing in the PTSD group. Results show a selective impairment in allocentric spatial processing, implicating weak hippocampal functioning, as predicted by a neurobiological dual representation model of PTSD. These findings have important clinical implications for cognitive therapy.
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Exposure to previous trauma is associated with a greater impairment in specific aspects of spatial processing.
“In this study and in a separate study of navigation [37], exposure to previous trauma was associated with a greater impairment in specific aspects of spatial processing.”
From Memory and Forgetting (2018) · cites this paper as [36]
PTSD patients appear to have a selective deficit in allocentric spatial memory, implicating weaker hippocampal functioning.
“Consistent with this model, PTSD patients appear to have a selective deficit in allocentric spatial memory, implicating weaker hippocampal functioning [36].”
From Memory and Forgetting (2018) · cites this paper as [36]
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Brewin, C. R. (2015) · European Journal of Psychotraumatology · doi:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27180 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Smith, K. V., Burgess, N., Brewin, C. R., & King, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Smith, Kirsten V.
- Venue
- Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-03
- Volume
- 119
- Pages
- 69-76
- ISSN
- 1074-7427 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4384783
- OpenAlex
- W2103902807
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 4.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Psychological Therapies Service
- CADAT
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, hippocampus, virtual navigation, intrusive imagery, spatial memory impairment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Female, Hippocampus, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Space Perception, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult, Spatial Memory
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