Saskia will defend her Phd thesis called “Boosting the oxytocin system in acute trauma.” on Thursday September 8th at 10.00 a.m. in the Agnietenkapel of the University of Amsterdam (Oudezijds Voorburgwal 231, Amsterdam).
Abstract
About 10 percent of trauma-exposed individuals develop a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since a substantial part of PTSD patients does not fully benefit from existing psychotherapies, new interventions boosting treatment response in PTSD are highly needed. The neuropeptide oxytocin has been suggested as promising pharmacological agent to enhance treatment response in PTSD, because of its anxiolytic and pro-social properties. As a first step to explore the clinical potential of oxytocin in PTSD, the effects oxytocin administration on fear neurocircuitry were investigated in male and female police officers with and without PTSD.