Research suggests that more than 70% of the population will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime. Along with the wide-ranging symptoms of posttraumatic stress, people also report converting their traumatic experience into constructive meaningful changes known as posttraumatic growth. This research represents the first use of artificial intelligence in the study of posttraumatic growth. Machine learning proved useful and effective for identifying posttraumatic-growth-related brain activity.
Posttraumatic growth is the advantageous change some individuals report after a struggle to overcome life changing adverse circumstances. When describing their posttraumatic growth, people often report increased recognition of personal strength, increased appreciation of life, seeing new possibilities in life, helpful changes in relating to others, and spiritual, existential, or philosophical changes.
Although posttraumatic growth is commonly reported across cultures, there is a debate about whether posttraumatic growth is an illusory perception of change, or objectively measurable change. To address this debate, Glazebrook et al. brought the worlds of cognitive neuroscience and applied wellbeing psychology together. Using a novel application of supervised machine learning artificial intelligence, they aimed to predict high versus low posttraumatic growth, from the electroencephalogram (EEG) measured brain activity of 66 healthy adults, with and without probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Results showed that alpha and gamma EEG frequency power could be used to accurately predict, from brain activity alone, which individuals reported high versus low levels of posttraumatic growth. These findings provide objective evidence of the measurable existence of posttraumatic growth, and the first whole-scalp topographies of posttraumatic growth brain activity in the known trauma literature.
In addition, the disruptive influence of PTSD on brain activity was identifiable, even for those people reporting high posttraumatic growth. Posttraumatic growth and PTSD are not opposite ends of the same spectrum. Instead, the two are independent, co-occurring trauma responses. Neural evidence of the co-occurrence of posttraumatic growth, with varying levels of PTSD is provided by the study findings.
The research advances the neural understanding of posttraumatic growth and provides a foundation for future research exploring the creation of neural based interventions to enhance posttraumatic growth.
With recent dual-factor model research indicating that higher posttraumatic growth is more beneficial to wellbeing than lower symptoms of PTSD, there is strong justification for clinical efforts to support posttraumatic growth. This study represents foundational steps toward providing psychologists with brain-focused tools to support posttraumatic growth during trauma prevention and recovery.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2022.2149877