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• Trauma exposure is associated with enhanced early processing of incoming stimuli. • PTSD is associated with enhanced processing of affective stimuli. • PTSD is associated with impaired attention processing of non-affective stimuli. • PTSD is associated with impaired working memory updating of non-affective stimuli. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with neural processing deficits affecting early automatic and later conscious processing. Event-related Potentials (ERPs) are high resolution indices of automatic and conscious processing, but there are no meta-analyses that have examined automatic and conscious ERPs in PTSD across multiple paradigms. This systematic review examined 69 studies across affective and non-affective auditory and visual paradigms. Individuals with PTSD were compared to trauma-exposed and non-trauma controls on ERPs reflecting automatic (N1, P1, N2, P2) and conscious (P3, LPP) processing. Trauma exposure was associated with increased automatic ERP amplitudes to irrelevant auditory information. PTSD further showed increased automatic and conscious allocation of resources to affective information, reduced automatic attending and classification as well as reduced attention processing and working memory updating of non-affective information. Therefore, trauma exposure is associated with enhanced early processing of incoming stimuli, and PTSD with enhanced processing of affective stimuli and impaired processing of non-affective stimuli. This review highlights the need for longitudinal ERP studies in PTSD, adopting standardized procedures and methodological designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low levels of estradiol in women have been associated with impaired fear extinction recall, with suggestions this may promote the return of fear and heighten the female vulnerability for anxiety disorders. A particularly important measure for the return of fear is reinstatement, but no human studies to date have examined the impact of estradiol on fear reinstatement. Forty-two healthy females completed a differential fear conditioning, extinction and reinstatement task with skin conductance response (SCR) amplitude indexing level of conditioned fear. Saliva samples were taken to measure estradiol and progesterone. To examine fear reinstatement, SCR amplitude was compared between the last trial of the late extinction phase to the first re-extinction trial following the unsignaled presentation of two aversive electric shocks. No significant effects of estradiol were found for acquisition of fear conditioning or fear extinction learning. Lower estradiol predicted a significantly larger generalized SCR amplitude at re-extinction (post-reinstatement) in women. This provides novel evidence suggesting a protective role of estradiol in potentially reducing the relapse of fear following re-exposure to aversive stimuli, although further research is necessary in clinical populations to clarify this effect. • Estradiol is implicated in fear extinction recall. • No human studies have examined the influence of estradiol on fear reinstatement. • Lower estradiol predicted increased fear reinstatement in women. • Progesterone did not predict significant differences in fear reinstatement. • Estradiol may be important in protecting against the return of fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]