Healio (2/17, Gramigna) reported, “Memory suppression is vital to positive adaptation following traumatic experiences,” investigators concluded in a “brain imaging study conducted in survivors of a terrorist attack.” For the study, researchers “implemented neutral and inoffensive intrusive memories in a lab setting among a group of 102 individuals exposed to the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, as well as 73 nonexposed individuals who were not in Paris during the attacks.” Of these people, “a total of 55 exposed individuals had been diagnosed with PTSD.” The study revealed that “upon reexperiencing intrusive memories, nonexposed individuals and exposed individuals without PTSD could adaptively suppress memory activity; however, exposed individuals with PTSD could not.” The findings were published online Feb. 14 in the journal Science.
Related Links:
— “PTSD brain mechanisms revealed using data from survivors of 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 17, 2020