Morning Light Treatment for Traumatic Stress: The Role of Amygdala Reactivity

Morning Light Treatment for Traumatic Stress: The Role of Amygdala Reactivity

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of different amounts of time of morning light on brain emotional processing.

Brain emotional processing was determined with the Emotional Faces Assessment Task (EFAT). In this task, participants view a trio of faces and match one of the two faces (bottom) that expresses the same emotion as the target face (top). The faces display one of five expressions (angry, happy, fearful, sad, neutral) and the other (incongruent) probe face always displays a neutral (or happy if the target is neutral) expression. The paradigm consists of 20 face trials per expression and 20 shape trials, presented in pseudorandomized order, separated by a 3-7 sec intertrial blank screen with fixation cross.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Meets criteria for traumatic stress
• Normal or corrected to normal vision
• Right-handed
• Fluency in English
• Physically able to travel for study visit attendance

Exclusion Criteria:

• Significant chronic uncontrolled disease (e.g. uncontrolled diabetes, advanced liver disease, cancer, etc.)
• Severe hearing problem
• Intellectual disability or serious cognitive impairment
• Inability to tolerate enclosed spaces (e.g. the MRI machine)
• Ferrous-containing metals within the body
• Pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding
• Epilepsy
• Other research participation
• Frequent number of special events during study period (weddings, concerts, exams, etc.)