Fear Memories Explained by MIT Researchers
In July, researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory released findings that may facilitate drug treatment from those suffering from persistent fear, including post-traumatic stress disorder and, presumably, severe forms of anxiety.
Emotional disorders such as post-traumatic stress and panic attacks stem from the inability of the brain to stop experiencing the fear associated with a specific incident or series of incidents. For some people, upsetting memories of traumatic events do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time, severely affecting their lives.
Treating these disorders involves methods geared toward making the behavior go away, or become extinct, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the extinction process are not well understood. However, [lead author Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences] said, studies have shown that some of the molecular machinery that initially encodes the troubling memories also regulates their extinction.*
So, the long and short of it is that by regulating the chemicals that initiate and control the mechanisms that create memories of fear, doctors can potentially eliminate or reduce those reactions, alleviating PTSD and persistent, debilitating fear.
Exciting, or potentially scarier than the frightening memories? What do you think?
Tags: fear-memories, MIT, post-traumatic-stress-disorder, PTSD, woman, women, Womens-HealthRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Mental health, Mind, New research, Spirit
.gif)
1 opinion for Fear Memories Explained by MIT Researchers
Jen
Aug 4, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Scary is right! Unnecessary too. Check out http://www.emdr.com. EMDR is a little like hypnotherapy. The practitioner helps you to reprocess and desensitize the memory. I had it at one point and it was effective. The website is quite informative.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: