Neural patterns key to understanding PTSD

For decades, scientists have viewed emotional memory as a double-edged sword: while the entire emotional event is highly memorable, details of the event are often fuzzy. This lack of detailed recollection may lead to faulty reactivation of negative memories. For example, if someone is bitten by a dog, he or she may become anxious around dogs of all breeds and sizes. Understanding the nature of emotional memory could have implications for the treatment of PTSD and other mental disorders.

“Emotion exerts a powerful influence on how vividly we can remember experiences,” said co-senior author Michael Yassa, professor of neurobiology & behavior, UCI School of Biological Sciences; professor of neurology and psychiatry, UCI School of Medicine; and director of UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory. “However, studies in humans have shown that the impact of emotion on memory is not always positive. In many cases, emotional arousal can impair a person’ ability to differentiate among similar experiences.”

This neural computation is critical for episodic memory and is vulnerable in neuropsychiatric disorders, Yassa said.

According to this new study from UCI, an imbalanced communication between the brain’s emotional center, the amygdala, and its memory hub, the hippocampus, may lead to the failure to differentiate negative experiences that have overlapping features. On the other hand, a balanced dialogue between the amygdala and the hippocampus allows one to separate overlapping emotional experiences and make distinct memories.

Source: Researchers discover neural patterns key to understanding disorders such as PTSD