D.T. Nguyen
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Research Interests
D.T. Nguyen has a total of 6 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Elizabeth V. Goldfarb
Department of Psychology, Yale University
1 shared publication - John H. Krystal
Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
1 shared publication - Krystian B. Loetscher
Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University
1 shared publication - Nicole M. Long
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia 22904
1 shared publication - Sanghoon Kang
Department of Psychology, Yale University
1 shared publication - Stephanie Mary Groman
Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, University of Chicago
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
Striatal habit system drives behavioral rigidity in PTSD
Core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) like safety seeking and avoidance have long been described as habitual. Although widespread theoretical accounts posit a relationship between these behaviors and striatal-mediated habits, or rigid stimulus-response (S-R) associations, this idea has yet to be tested. Here, we implement a new task design to investigate how S-R associations are acquired, how flexibly they can be remapped, and how sensitive they are to changes in outcome value for individuals with PTSD as compared to individuals who experienced trauma without developing PTSD (trauma-exposed controls; TC). We find that individuals with PTSD, compared to TC, exhibit several hallmarks of habitual behavior, including more rigid habit-like perseveration following response remapping, and, with more severe symptoms, continued perseveration following outcome devaluation. We also observe that the PTSD group acquired these S-R associations more slowly. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we find significant putamen engagement when learning S-R associations that was especially pronounced in PTSD and predicted later perseveration. Finally, computational models indicate that the PTSD group leveraged gradual trial-by-trial updating to learn and later update associations, whereas the TC group leaned more on a stable, consistent choice strategy, both of which explained later behavioral rigidity. In addition to distinguishing individuals with PTSD, these habit-related processes were also more pronounced for individuals with more severe symptoms. Together, these results provide the first empirical evidence for the role of habits in PTSD.
Open AccessStriatal habit system drives behavioral rigidity in PTSD
Core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) like safety seeking and avoidance have long been described as habitual. Although widespread theoretical accounts posit a relationship between these behaviors and striatal-mediated habits, or rigid stimulus-response (S-R) associations, this idea has yet to be tested. Here, we implement a new task design to investigate how S-R associations are acquired, how flexibly they can be remapped, and how sensitive they are to changes in outcome value for individuals with PTSD as compared to individuals who experienced trauma without developing PTSD (trauma-exposed controls; TC). We find that individuals with PTSD, compared to TC, exhibit several hallmarks of habitual behavior, including more rigid habit-like perseveration following response remapping, and, with more severe symptoms, continued perseveration following outcome devaluation. We also observe that the PTSD group acquired these S-R associations more slowly. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we find significant putamen engagement when learning S-R associations that was especially pronounced in PTSD and predicted later perseveration. Finally, computational models indicate that the PTSD group leveraged gradual trial-by-trial updating to learn and later update associations, whereas the TC group leaned more on a stable, consistent choice strategy, both of which explained later behavioral rigidity. In addition to distinguishing individuals with PTSD, these habit-related processes were also more pronounced for individuals with more severe symptoms. Together, these results provide the first empirical evidence for the role of habits in PTSD.