Understanding Recent Insights in Sleep and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from a Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Framework

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with sleep disturbances, including insomnia, nightmares, sleep-disordered breathing, and REM abnormalities. Recent studies have expanded our knowledge of the neurobiology of trauma and sleep. In addition, intervention research has provided valuable information about how sleep treatments affect PTSD symptoms and how PTSD treatments affect sleep symptoms. This review of recent literature aims to move away from the categorical approach that currently dominates our conceptualization of trauma response and sleep disorders. Possible mechanisms of both trauma and sleep disturbance are posed within the framework put forth by the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project. By examining domains of dysfunction that cut across disorders, RDoC may guide future research and treatment of the maladaptive neurobiological and behavioral correlates of both trauma and sleep disturbances.