Persistent Negative Attitude Can Undo Effectiveness of Exposure Therapy for Phobias
In order to recover from phobias, researchers suggest people must alter memory driven negative attitudes about their feared object.
Memory Appears Susceptible to Eradication of Fear Responses
Fear responses can only be erased when people learn something new while retrieving the fear memory according to a new study.
Human Brain is Divided on Fear and Panic
A new study provides proof that the amygdala is not the only gatekeeper of fear in the human brain. Other regions, such as the brainstem, diencephalon, or insular cortex, could sense the body’s most primal inner signals of danger when basic survival is threatened.
Neuroscientists Pinpoint Location of Fear Memory in Amygdala
Researchers examine the how fear responses are learned, controlled, and memorized. They show that a particular class of neurons in a subdivision of the amygdala plays an active role in these processes.
Fear Can Be Erased from the Brain
Newly formed emotional memories can be erased from the human brain.The findings may represent a breakthrough in research on memory and fear. This is shown by researchers from Uppsala University in a study being published by Science.
When Anxiety Won’t Go Away
Scientists discovered a mechanism which stops the process of forgetting anxiety after a stress event. They showed that feelings of anxiety don’t subside if too little dynorphin is released into the brain. The results can help open up new paths in the treatment of trauma patients.
Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain
Our baseline level of distrust is distinct and separable from our inborn lie detector. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on my parahippocampal gyrus. Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have found that suspicion resides in two distinct regions of the brain: the amygdala, which plays a central role [...]
Reduced Recognition of Fear and Sadness in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD impairs ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions. Facial expressions convey strong cues for someone’s emotional state and the ability to interpret these cues is crucial in social interaction. This ability is known to be compromised in many psychiatric and neurological disorders, such as social anxiety or Korsakoff’s syndrome. New research has now revealed [...]
The Fearless SM: Woman Missing Amygdala
A woman with bilateral damage relatively restricted to the amygdala is the subject of a case study reported today. SM, as she will be known to the public, seems able to experience emotions such as happiness and sadness normally, but shows no signs of fear.
PTSD Peaks in Women Aged 51-55 and Men Aged 41-45
New research shows that Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) peaks in men between the ages of 41-45 and in women between the ages 51-55.
