Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Dopamine not about pleasure (anymore)

(Medical Xpress)—To John Salamone, professor of psychology and longtime researcher of the brain chemical dopamine, scientific research can be very slow-moving.

Neuroscience created Dec 03, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Why aren't we smarter already? Evolutionary limits on cognition

(Medical Xpress) -- We put a lot of energy into improving our memory, intelligence, and attention. There are even drugs that make us sharper, such as Ritalin and caffeine. But maybe smarter isn’t really all that better. ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Dec 07, 2011 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (27) | comments 129 | with audio podcast

Sleep preserves and enhances unpleasant emotional memories

A recent study by sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the first to suggest that a person's emotional response after witnessing an unsettling picture or traumatic event is greatly ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Dreaming takes the sting out of painful memories: study

They say time heals all wounds, and new research from the University of California, Berkeley, indicates that time spent in dream sleep can help.

Medical research created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (13) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study indicates reverse impulses clear useless information, prime brain for learning

(Medical Xpress)—When the mind is at rest, the electrical signals by which brain cells communicate appear to travel in reverse, wiping out unimportant information in the process, but sensitizing the cells ...

Neuroscience created Mar 19, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Chronic fatigue syndrome—a system under stress

Australian researchers have discovered for the first time that reduced heart rate variability – or changes in heart beat timing – best predicts cognitive disturbances, such as concentration difficulties commonly reported ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 15, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Childhood trauma leaves mark on DNA of some victims

Abused children are at high risk of anxiety and mood disorders, as traumatic experience induces lasting changes to their gene regulation. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have ...

Neuroscience created Dec 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Follow-up study finds lasting benefit from MDMA for people with PTSD

(Medical Xpress)—A research team made up of a group of private practitioners and medical experts has conducted a follow-up study of a trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use in therapy sessions ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Flip of a single molecular switch makes an old brain young

The flip of a single molecular switch helps create the mature neuronal connections that allow the brain to bridge the gap between adolescent impressionability and adult stability. Now Yale School of Medicine ...

Neuroscience created Mar 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Why some stress is good for you? Acute stress primes the brain to do better on memory tasks two weeks later

(Medical Xpress)—Overworked and stressed out? Look on the bright side. Some stress is good for you.

Neuroscience created Apr 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find genetic link to PTSD

(Medical Xpress) -- A team of Swiss and German researchers has found that a certain gene allele can be linked to increased emotional memory retention and because of that appears to be a factor in people who suffer from post ...

Genetics created May 15, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Ecstasy drug produces lasting toxicity in the brain

Recreational use of Ecstasy – the illegal "rave" drug that produces feelings of euphoria and emotional warmth – is associated with chronic changes in the human brain, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Dec 05, 2011 | popularity 2.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Learning to overcome fear is difficult for teens, brain study finds

A new study by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers shows that adolescents' reactions to threat remain high even when the danger is no longer present. According to researchers, once a teenager's brain is triggered by ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 27, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

'Trust' hormone oxytocin found at heart of rare genetic disorder

The hormone oxytocin - often referred to as the "trust" hormone or "love hormone" for its role in stimulating emotional responses - plays an important role in Williams syndrome (WS), according to a study published June 12, ...

Neuroscience created Jun 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Why some soldiers develop PTSD while others don't

Pre-war vulnerability is just as important as combat-related trauma in predicting whether veterans' symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be long-lasting, according to new research published in Clinical Ps ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Feb 21, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0


Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response. Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal—such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hypervigilance. Formal diagnostic criteria (both DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10) require that the symptoms last more than one month and cause significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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