Study may show how PTSD changes the brain

Study may show how PTSD changes the brain
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 24, 2009 16:00:35 EDT

A new study shows that brain circuitry may actually change for people diagnosed with post traumatic stress symptoms, according to researchers from Duke University and the Durham, N.C., Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Beyond the symptoms most-associated with PTSD — nightmares, flashbacks and hyper-awareness — combat troops also often suffer from an inability to think clearly or remember things well, which makes performing basic daily tasks difficult. While these same symptoms have been connected to traumatic brain injuries as a result of amnesia and short-term memory loss, some researchers began to wonder if service members’ brains had reorganized themselves to respond immediately to potentially dangerous information. According to the study, printed in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging journal, all of a person’s attention goes to an immediate, life-or-death situation, rather than letting other information filter in.

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