A study by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Yale University (USA) revealed that traumatic memories are processed differently in the brain than other memories. This is due to different patterns of neural activity in the hippocampus and posterior cingulate cortex. results published In the journal Nature.
For people with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), traumatic memories often arise suddenly and spontaneously. Scientists have found that such memories activate the area of the brain responsible for introspection and prediction rather than memory.
28 people with PTSD participated in the study. Volunteers were asked to report three types of memories: traumatic (associated with a mental disorder), sad, and neutral (calm). Details of the events were recorded and then presented by the scientists in the form of a two-minute audio recording, the content of which was individual for each volunteer.
The audio recording was then presented to the participants for listening. During three playbacks, researchers monitored each subject’s brain activity in the hippocampus, amygdala, and posterior cingulate cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
It turns out that sad memories “activate” the hippocampus, the region responsible for memory, while traumatic life events do not trigger neural activity in this part of the brain. Such memories involved the posterior cingulate cortex, which is involved in the processes of mental prediction, introspection, and the formation of emotional images in memory. Scientists suggest that their discoveries will contribute to the development of new methods of treating PTSD.
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