PTSD leads to changes in brain, study finds

PTSD leads to changes in brain, study finds

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Aug 5, 2008 15:50:21 EDT

A new study from Brigham Young University may support the idea that post-traumatic stress disorder manifests as a neurological disorder, with research suggesting that adults who suffered PTSD-causing maltreatment as children have reduced volume in the hippocampus.

“The size reduction in the hippocampus seems to occur sometime after the initial exposure to stress or trauma in childhood, strengthening the argument that it has something to do with PTSD itself or the stress exposure,” said Dawson Hedges, an author in the study and a BYU neuroscientist.

Previous studies have shown adults who suffered maltreatment as children had volume deficits in the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with memory, but had not determined if the PTSD caused the deficit or if people born with such a deficit were more at risk for PTSD.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/military_ptsd_hippocampus_080508w/