Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious condition that many veterans face. Bradley’s Center for Collaborative Brain Research is sponsoring a study aiming to help veterans with symptoms of PTSD.
The goal of the study is to share and publish the findings so veterans can have more treatment opportunities when they seek help.
Lori Russell-Chapin, professor and co-director for the CCBR, said she is the principal investigator behind the study.
“The brain scans we’ve done, the EEGs, when people have finished treatment, it really has changed their brain,” Russell-Chapin said. “There is a post-traumatic stress signature in the brain and we’re finding that some of that signature has been removed.”
Russell-Chapin works with co-investigators Nancy Sherman, professor in the department of leadership in education, nonprofits and counseling, and Celia Johnson, instructor for management, literacy and methods in special education.
According to Russell-Chapin, everyone has their own roles in the study. Johnson acts as the case manager, Sherman is mainly responsible for the Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories Protocol (RTM) and Russell-Chapin does the neurofeedback.
There are three non-invasive treatments that the study is researching: RTM, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Neurofeedback (NFB).
RTM uses imagery to reduce any kind of anxiety the participants might have pertaining to an event.
EMDR uses lights and fingers and forces the veterans to think about the situation and gradually reducing the anxiety.
Neurofeedback includes attaching electrodes to the head to retrain the brain.
With almost every study, there are people who may doubt the research being done.
“The techniques that we’re doing have not been validated enough,” Russell-Chapin said. “There’s not enough research, so that’s why we are supposed to be doing research.”
Russell-Chapin has done a lot of work with neurofeedback and has seen it be effective. She said that veterans do not receive the best treatment, so she wanted to find something non-invasive and not expensive.
“Medication [is] usually what is given for post-traumatic stress and it’s not really valid or reliable,” Russell-Chapin said.
Currently, they have studied 20 volunteers, but they need 30 to make the results statistically significant. They are finishing their second year of the study.
Russell-Chapin stated that it has been a challenge to find participants for the study.
“I think for many veterans, coming to someone who’s not a veteran … I think that’s hard to reach out and trust people,” Russell-Chapin said. “The veterans I have met have been incredible. Their stories are incredible, I’ve enjoyed working with them.”
Veterans who complete the study will receive $100 in compensation.
