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

The Neurobiology of Fear sensational Memory and Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderFor survivors of accidental injurytic events, the trauma itself is often only the beginning. While some are relatively unaffected, many an(prenominal) others will develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder, an affliction that haunts its victims with terrifying memories, nightmares, and disquietude attacks. (For a comprehensive list of symptoms and diagnostic criteria, the reader may repair to the DSM-IV, relevant portions of which may be found online (7).) The matter Institute of psychological Health estimates that 3.6 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 54 suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder 30 percent of those who have spent time in state of war zones - one million veterans of Vietnam alone - are affected (6). PTSD is treat with several forms of psychotherapy, including exposure therapy, centered around a controlled confrontation of scare stimuli. W hile medication may treat co-occurring depression, anxiety, or insomnia (6), pharmacological agents targeting PTSD remain unavailable. In part, this is because researchers have only begun to describe the underlying neurobiology. some(prenominal) recent studies have pointed to the brain body structure known as the corpus amygdaloideum as a central player, but questions remain How does this small structure recognize danger? How does it create emotional memories? What causes recurrence of these memories? Answers to these questions are intricate and incomplete. As an anxiety disorder, PTSD has its foundations in fear and emotional memory. same factual memory, emotional memory also involves the storage and recall of events and expatiate this has been termed the explicit or conscious memory (2). Emotional memory, though, has a second, perspicuous component. This facet, t... ...ing, from Stephen Marens Emotion and Memory Systems Laboratory at the University of Michigan. http//maren1. psych.lsa.umich.edu/Models.html4)Summary of Research at Stephen 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 amiable Health. http//www.nimh.nih.gov/events/pranxst.cfm6)Facts About 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 Bully Online, a service of the United acres National Workplace Bullying Advice Line.http//www.successunlimited.co.uk/PTSD/8)Building a Brainier Mouse. Zsien, Joe T. 2000. Scientific Americanhttp//www.sciam.com/missing.cfm