The Neurobiology of Fear: Emotional Memory and Post-Traumatic Stress Di

The Neurobiology of Fear Emotional retentivity and Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderFor survivors of traumatic events, the trauma itself is often only the beginning. slice some are relatively unaffected, many others will develop post-traumatic tune disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder, an affliction that haunts its victims with terrifying memories, nightmares, and panic attacks. (For a comprehensive number of symptoms and diagnostic criteria, the reader may refer to the DSM-IV, relevant portions of which may be found online (7).) The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 3.6 percent of Americans amid the ages of 18 and 54 suffer from PTSD 30 percent of those who arrive at spent time in war zones - one million veterans of Vietnam alone(predicate) - are affected (6). PTSD is treated with several forms of psychotherapy, including exposure therapy, pertain around a controlled confrontation of frightening stimuli. While medication may treat co-occurring depression , anxiety, or insomnia (6), pharmacological agents targeting PTSD remain unavailable. In part, this is because researchers squander only begun to describe the underlying neurobiology. Several recent studies have pointed to the idea structure known as the amygdala as a of import player, but questions remain How does this small structure recognize danger? How does it bring forth emotional memories? What causes recurrence of these memories? Answers to these questions are complex and incomplete. As an anxiety disorder, PTSD has its foundations in fear and emotional remembrance. Like factual memory, emotional memory also involves the storage and recall of events and details this has been termed the explicit or aware memory (2). Emotional memory, though, has a second, distinct component. This facet, t... ...ing, from Stephen Marens Emotion and Memory Systems research laboratory at the University of Michigan. http//maren1.psych.lsa.umich.edu/Models.html4)Summary of Research at Steph en Marens Emotion and Memory Systems Laboratory at the University of Michigan. http//maren1.psych.lsa.umich.edu/Research.html5)Anxiety Disorders Treatment Target Amygdala Circuitry, from the National Institute of Mental Health. http//www.nimh.nih.gov/events/pranxst.cfm6)Facts active Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, from the National Institute of Mental Health. http//www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety/ptsdfacts.cfm7)PTSD Diagnostic Criteria from the DSM-IV, from push around Online, a service of the United Kingdom National Workplace blusterous Advice Line.http//www.successunlimited.co.uk/PTSD/8)Building a Brainier Mouse. Zsien, Joe T. 2000. Scientific Americanhttp//www.sciam.com/missing.cfm