Skip to main content

Influence of acute psychological trauma on time estimation behaviour: a prospective pilot study

Journal of Neural Transmission volume 119, pages 1205–1211 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

In addition to the symptom triad of intrusions, avoidance behaviour and hyperarousal, typical and frequent characteristics of acute and chronic posttraumatic disorders are neuropsychological disturbances of working memory and executive functions. So far, however, only a very limited number of studies have dealt with their effects on the capability to assess time-related information. The purpose of this prospective study therefore was to compare persons after an acute traumatic experience with healthy controls in the course of 12 months, focusing on their ability to estimate time as a measure of their readiness of attention. 39 participants aged 17–59 years (mean age = 35.1 years, who had experienced a traumatic event and exhibited symptoms of acute stress disorder) were compared with 38 healthy controls (mean age = 36.1 years) at eight times of measurement within a period of 12 months. Performance was determined by means of a prospective time estimation task. The participants had to estimate a time interval of 5 s, once with and once without feedback about the quality of the estimates. The time estimates by the traumatised persons were significantly less precise than those by the control group. Progress analyses have shown that trauma patients exhibit larger deviations from the defined time interval, both under feedback conditions and without feedback. Psychological traumatisation leads to both an acute and long-term, demonstrable impairment of time estimation ability. The recognizable disturbance of information processing may both be a cause and a result of clinical trauma symptoms.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • APA, American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association, Washington DC

  • Beckham JC, Crawford AL, Feldman ME (1998) Trail making test performance in Vietnam combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder. J Trauma Stress 11(4):811–819

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beers SR, de Bellis MD (2002) Neuropsychological function in children with maltreatment-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Am J Psychiatry 159(3):483–486

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boscarino JA, Richard RE, Adams E (2009) PTSD onset and course following the World Trade Center disaster: findings and implications for future research. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 44(10):887–898

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brandes D, Ben-Schachar G, Gilboa A, Bonne O, Freedman S, Shalev AY (2002) PTSD symptoms and cognitive performance in recent trauma survivors. Psychiatry Res 110(3):231–238

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner LA, Ladley-O`Brian SE, Harwood JEF, Filley CF, Kelly JP, Homaifar BY, Adler LE (2009) An explanatory study of neuroimaging, neurologic, and neuropsychological findings in veterans with traumatic brain injury and/or posttraumatic stress disorder. Mil Med 174(4):347–352

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bschor T, Ising M, Bauer M, Lewitzka U, Skerstupeit M, Müller-Oerlinghausen B, Baethge C (2004) Time experience and time judgement in major depression, mania and healthy subjects. A controlled study of 93 subjects. Acta Psychiatr Scand 109(3):222–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Bustamante V, Mellmann TA, David D, Fins AI (2001) Cognitive functioning and the early development of PTSD. J Trauma Stress 14(4):791–797

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eckart C, Stoppel C, Kaufmann J, Tempelmann C, Hinrichs H, Elbert T, Heinze HJ, Kolassa IT (2011) Structural alterations in lateral prefrontal, parietal and posterior midline regions of men with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. J Psychiatry Neurosci 36(3):176–186

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Effron DA, Niedenthal PM, Gil S, Droit-Volet S (2006) Embodied temporal perception of emotion. Emotion 6(1):1–9

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eren-Kocak E, Kilic C, Aydin I, Hizli FG (2009) Memory and prefrontal functions in earthquake survivors: differences between current and past post-traumatic stress disorder patients. Acta psychiatr Scand 119(1):35–44

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Golier J, Yehuda R (2002) Neuropsychological processes post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychiatr Clin North Am 25(2):295–315

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golier JA, Yehuda R, Lupien SJ, Harvey PD, Grossmann R, Elkin A (2002) Memory performance in Holocaust survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder. Am J Psychiatry 159(10):1682–1688

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurvits TV, Shenton ME, Hokama H, Otha H, Lasko NB, Gilbertson MW, Orr SP, Kikinis R, Jolesz FA, McCarley RW, Pitman RK (1996) Magnetic resonance imaging study of hippocampal volume in chronic, combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Biol Psychiatry 40(11):1091–1099

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey AG, Bryant RA, Dang ST (1998) Autobiographical memory in acute stress disorder. J Consult Clin Psychol 66(3):500–506

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jatzko A, Schmitt A, Kordon A, Braus DF (2005) Neuroimaging findings in posttraumatic stress disorder: review of the literature. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr 73(7):377–391

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnsen GE, Kanagaratnam P, Asbjornsen AE (2008) Memory impairments in posttraumatic stress disorder are related to depression. J Anxiety Disord 22(3):464–474

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanagaratnam P, Asbjornsen AE (2007) Executive deficits in chronic PTSD related to political violence. J Anxiety Disord 21(4):510–525

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koso M, Hansen S (2006) Executive function and memory posttraumatic disorder: a. study of Bosnian war veterans. Eur Psychiatry 21(3):167–173

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kowalski JT, Radtke Y, Falkenhagen F, Kropp P, Zimmermann P, Gerber WD, Niederberger U (2012) Verlaufsuntersuchung depressiver Symptomatik nach akuter Traumatisierung: eine prospektive Pilotstudie. Z Klin Psychol Psychother (in press)

  • Lagarde G, Doyon J, Brunet A (2010) Memory and executive dysfunctions associated with acute posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Res 177(1–2):144–149

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis PA, Miall RC (2003) Distinct systems for automatic and cognitively controlled time measurement: evidence from neuroimaging. Curr Opin Neurobiol 13(2):250–255

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis PA, Miall RC (2006) Remembering the time: a continuous clock. Trends Cogn Sci 10(9):401–406

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Locsin RC (1993) Time experience of selected institutionalized adult clients. Clin Nurs Res 2(4):451–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morey RA, Dolcos F, Petty CM, Cooper DA, Hayes JP, LaBar KS, McCarthy G (2009) The role of trauma-related distracters on neural systems for working memory and emotion processing in posttraumatic disorder. J psychiatr Res 43(8):809–817

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parslow RA, Jorm AF (2007a) Pretrauma and posttrauma neurocognitive functioning and PTSD symptoms in an community sample of young adults. Am J Psychiatry 164(3):509–515

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parslow RA, Jorm AF (2007b) Pretrauma and posttrauma neurocognitive functioning and PTSD symptoms in an community sample of young adults. Am J Psychiatry 164(3):509–515

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rammsayer TH, Hennig J, Haag A, Lange N (2001) Effects of noradrnergic activity on temporal information processing in humans. Q J Exp Psychol B 54(3):247–258

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson KW, Metzler TJ, Rothlind J, Choucroun G, Neylan TC, Lenoci M, Henn-Hase C, Weiner MW, Marmar CR (2006) Neuropsychological functioning in posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse. Neuropsychology 20(6):716–726

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoeman R, Carey P, Seedat S (2009) Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South African adolescents: a case-control study of cognitive deficits. J Nerv Ment Dis 197(4):244–250

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein MB, Walker JR, Hazen AL, Forde DR (1997) Full and partial posttraumatic stress disorder: findings from a community survey. Am J Psychiatry 154:1114–1119

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stein MB, Kennedy CM, Twamley EW (2002) Neuropsychological function in female victims of intimate partner violence with and without posttraumatic stress disorder. Kanagaratnam Biological Psychiatry 52(11):1079–1088

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittmann M, Leland DS, Churan J, Paulus MP (2007) Impaired time perception and motor timing in stimulant-dependent subjects. Drug Alcohol Depend 90(3):183–192

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yehuda R, Golier JA, Harvey PD, Stavitsky K, Kaufman S, Grossman RA, Tischler L (2005) Relationship between cortisol and age-related memory impairments in Holocaust survivors with PTSD. Psychoneuroendocrinology 30(7):678–687

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yehuda R, Tischler L, Golier JA, Grossman R, Brand SR, Kaufman S, Harvey PD (2006) Longitudinal assessment of cognitive performance in Holocaust survivors with and without PTSD. Biol Psychiatry 60(7):714–721

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was part of a research project financed by the Federal Ministry of Defense with the title “Experimental neurophysiologic and neuropsychological investigations for the identification of predictors of dissociation within acute and chronic traumatic stress disorder” (no.: M/SAB 1/6/A014).

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

    J. T. Kowalski, S. Kobs, W. D. Gerber & U. Niederberger

  2. Bundeswehr Hospital Berlin, Psychotrauma Center, Berlin, Germany

    J. T. Kowalski & P. Zimmermann

  3. Center for Clinical Psychology and Rehabilitation, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    F. Petermann

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    J. Thome

  5. College of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    J. Thome

  6. Medical Faculty, Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    P. Kropp

  7. Research Section of the Psychotrauma Center, Bundeswehr Hospital Berlin, Scharnhorststr. 13, 10115, Berlin, Germany

    J. T. Kowalski

Authors
  1. J. T. Kowalski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Kobs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. P. Zimmermann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. F. Petermann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. Thome
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. P. Kropp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. W. D. Gerber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. U. Niederberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. T. Kowalski.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kowalski, J.T., Kobs, S., Zimmermann, P. et al. Influence of acute psychological trauma on time estimation behaviour: a prospective pilot study. J Neural Transm 119, 1205–1211 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-012-0835-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-012-0835-6

Keywords

  • Time estimation
  • Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Acute stress disorder (ASD)