New research by Welsh academics shows that a patient’s pupils can reveal if they have suffered a traumatic experience in the past.
New research by Welsh academics shows that a patient’s pupils can reveal if they have suffered a traumatic experience in the past.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can occur when a person has experienced a traumatic event such as a car crash, combat stress, or abuse. They can be left with a greater sensitivity, or hyperarousal, to everyday events and an inability to switch off and relax.
The research, led by Dr Aimee McKinnon at Cardiff University and published in the journal Biological Psychology, looked for traces of these traumatic events in the eyes of patients who were suffering from PTSD by measuring the pupil of the eye while participants were shown threatening images such as vicious animals or weapons, as well as other images that showed neutral events, or even pleasant images.
The response of people with PTSD was different to other people, including people who had been traumatised but did not have PTSD.
Read more at Swansea University
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