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Neuroscientist Links Exposure to Violence, PTSD, and Effects on the Brain: Implications for future research and returning Iraq War soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injury

By Gerry Brooks - May 15, 2007

The Society for Cognitive Rehabilitation-an international, interdisciplinary group of clinicians and scientists devoted to the advancement of standards of care in cognitive rehabilitation--held its annual meeting in Westminster, Colorado recently. Among the many presenters during the three day conference, Dr. Anne De Prince, University of Denver faculty and Director of the Traumatic Stress Studies Group at the University, gave a presentation linking violence exposure to alterations in cognitive and social-emotional information processing.

Dr. De Prince's presentation reviewed research on children who had been exposed to violence in the home. She presented information including how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may affect a wide variety of cognitive functions that persist into adulthood. The effects she described included problems with attention, memory and executive impairments such as difficulty with problem-solving, planning, information transfer, and social interaction. The presentation made reference to specific areas of the brain where functional changes have been noted as a result of exposure to violence, including the pre-frontal cortex and amygdala. The latter structure is located in the temporal lobes and known to be associated with the processing of emotional reactions.

The profile of cognitive deficits following exposure to violence was strikingly similar to what is seen following traumatic brain injury, leading one conference attendee to ask, "Are you saying that PTSD causes traumatic brain injury?" Dr. De Prince responded, "That's an interesting question," and indicated that future research would need to address this question.

Attending the three-day meeting were brain injury specialists and scientists from around the world and a variety of disciplines, including neurology, neuropsychiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, social work, special education, and speech-language pathology. After attended the meeting and hearing Dr. De Prince’s presentation, I noted the speculation among meeting attendees concerning the implications of this research for returning Veteran's from the Iraq War. Many returning Veterans are experiencing a combination of physical, cognitive, and emotional deficits resulting from brain injury, the signature wound of the war. PTSD is also widely reported. Dr. De Prince’s research suggests that the cognitive and behavioral effects of brain injury may interact in complex ways with the effects of PTSD and that clinicians with the responsibility of evaluating returning Veterans will need to be alert to this possibility in order to design the most effective treatment with a view toward long-term positive outcomes.


Society for Cognitive Rehabilitation Website


Gerry Brooks, MA, CCC, CBIT is the Brain Injury Program Director at Northeast Center for Special Care in Lake Katrine, NY.

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