Improve The Treatment Of PTSD Can Be Through The Amygdala

Improve The Treatment Of PTSD Can Be Through The Amygdala.
Researchers who have intentional a missus with a missing amygdala - the part of the brain believed to contrive fear - report that their findings may help improve treatment for post-traumatic significance disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders. In perhaps the first human study confirming that the almond-shaped arrange is crucial for triggering fear, researchers at the University of Iowa monitored a 44-year-old woman's reply to typically frightening stimuli such as snakes, spiders, horror films and a haunted house, and asked about shocking experiences in her past. The woman, identified as SM, does not seem to awe a wide range of stimuli that would normally frighten most people.

Scientists have been studying her for the past 20 years, and their last research had already determined that the woman cannot recognize fear in others' facial expressions. SM suffers from an very rare disease that destroyed her amygdala. Future observations will determine if her fettle affects anxiety levels for everyday stressors such as finance or health issues, said haunt author Justin Feinstein, a University of Iowa doctoral student studying clinical neuropsychology. "Certainly, when it comes to fear, she's missing it. She's so lone in her presentation".

Researchers said the study, reported in the Dec 16, 2010 young of the journal Current Biology, could incline to new treatment strategies for PTSD and anxiety disorders. According to the US National Institute of Mental Health, more than 7,7 million Americans are studied by the condition, and a 2008 analysis predicted that 300000 soldiers returning from controversy in the Middle East would experience PTSD. "Because of her intellectual damage, the patient appears to be immune to PTSD," Feinstein said, noting that she is otherwise cognitively regular and experiences other emotions such as happiness and sadness.

In addition to recording her responses to spiders, snakes and other frightful stimuli, the researchers measured her experience of fear using many standardized questionnaires that probed various aspects of the emotion, such as fearfulness of death or fear of public speaking. She also carried a computerized emotion log for three months that randomly asked her to rate her fear level throughout the day.