The Neurobiology of Fear Emotional Memory and...

The Neurobiology of Fear: Emotional Memory and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder For survivors of traumatic events, the trauma itself is often only the beginning. While some are relatively unaffected, many others will develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, an affliction that haunts its victims with terrifying memories, nightmares, and panic attacks. (For a comprehensive list of symptoms and diagnostic criteria, the reader may refer to the DSM-IV, relevant portions of which may be found online (7).) The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 3.6 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 54 suffer from PTSD; 30 percent of those who have spent time in war zones - one million veterans of Vietnam alone - are†¦show more content†¦The distinction between conscious and unconscious memory suggests - and it is generally accepted - that emotional memory involves two brain systems. While conscious memory is mediated by the hippocampus, the amygdala is implicated in emotional memory (1). A small collection of nuclei in the center of each t emporal lobe, the amygdala controls the fear response, receiving and integrating sensory input to determine the level of threat. If the input is sufficiently intense to initiate an action potential, the amygdala triggers other areas of the brain that induce the physiological response that humans interpret as fear (3); the danger has been recognized. The amygdala, though, is involved not just in the fear response, but in the memory of fear, as well. In one test, researchers used functional MRI scans to measure amygdala activity while showing subjects a number of frightening and neutral images. They found that the degree of amygdala activity was a good predictor of both fear level (as reported by the subject) and of the ability several weeks later to recall having seen the image (1). This evidence, along with other studies with similar findings, has made the amygdala the target of much anxiety-disorder research (5), but it continues to raise the question of mechanism. The answer, partial though it may be, appears to lie in classicShow MoreRelatedThe Curent Understanding of the Neurobiology of Memory Reconsolidation and Its Implications for Psychology1863 Words   |  7 PagesThis essay is focusing on the current understanding of the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation and its implications for psychology. This paper will specifically focus on the molecular mechanisms of reconsolidation and research relating to fear memories and using propranolol and D-cycloserine as a treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Memory consolidation is the process by which memories are stabilised after being acquired. 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