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The hippocampus, a brain region implicated in memory and interpreting environmental contexts, has been the focus of a controversy in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). http://phys.org/news220006084.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:48:28 EST news220006084 (PhysOrg.com) -- The hippocampus, a brain area associated with memory and stress, was about six percent smaller on average in veterans with current chronic PTSD than in veterans who had recovered from PTSD, in a study conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. http://phys.org/news219475617.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:33:37 EST news219475617 In the case of post-traumatic stress disorder, not all symptoms are created equal. http://phys.org/news218212305.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:50:03 EST news218212305 Combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms appear to be associated with longer-term physical (headache, tinnitus), emotional (irritability) and cognitive (diminished concentration or memory) symptoms, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. Conversely, concussion/mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI) do not appear to have long-term negative effects on troops. http://phys.org/news213295546.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:50:01 EST news213295546 Stress can enhance ordinary, unrelated memories, a team of neuroscientists has found in a study of laboratory rats. Their results, which appear in the journal PLoS Biology, may bolster our understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and could offer a pathway for addressing PTSD and related afflictions. http://phys.org/news212175660.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:41:22 EST news212175660 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Iowa have pinpointed the part of the brain that causes people to experience fear – a discovery that could improve treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety conditions. http://phys.org/news211725406.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:37:28 EST news211725406 We commonly think of sleep as a healing process that melts away the stresses of the day, preparing us to deal with new challenges. Research has also shown that sleep plays a crucial role in the development of memories. http://phys.org/news210945071.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:30:01 EST news210945071 After the campus shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Northern Illinois University in 2008, hundreds of affected students turned to social media websites to share their grief and search for solace. A new study of these students found that their online activities neither helped nor harmed their long-term psychological health. http://phys.org/news206794199.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:50:21 EST news206794199 Throughout much of her young adult life, Terry Hatcher was living in a disassociated state, disconnected from the world -- zoned out. She tried to commit suicide at age 21. http://phys.org/news205769458.html Medicine & Health Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:40:01 EST news205769458 In recent years, several guidelines in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder have been put into practice globally. Practice guidelines across the health sphere are very important in guiding the care people receive. Although there is a high level of consensus on these guidelines among practitioners, there are also differences that can lead to confusion among providers, patients, and purchasers of mental health services for people affected by trauma. A new article in the Journal of Traumatic Stress written by the international leaders in PTSD treatment, compares and contrasts the various guidelines, and explain the reasons for the differences. http://phys.org/news204910161.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:29:50 EST news204910161 Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health assessed the geographical distribution of the long-term burden of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in a region of Liberia and report that the prevalence of PTSD remains high nearly two decades after the principal conflict there and five years after war in Liberia ended entirely. http://phys.org/news199708233.html Medicine & Health Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:30:52 EST news199708233 MDMA (±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as Ecstasy), may one day offer hope for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even people for whom other treatments have failed. Clinical trial results out today in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE, suggests that MDMA can be administered to subjects with PTSD without evidence of harm and could offer sufferers a vital window with reduced fear responses where psychotherapy can take effect. http://phys.org/news198572687.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:01 EST news198572687 (PhysOrg.com) -- People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will have the chance to take part in a pilot study of an internet-based education program. http://phys.org/news197292733.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:32:37 EST news197292733 Focusing on certain PTSD symptoms may be key to treating anger among Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans, according to a study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Veterans Affairs researchers. http://phys.org/news195796322.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:59:12 EST news195796322 Bright light therapy has significant effects on sleep disturbances associated with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a research abstract that will be presented Monday, June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. http://phys.org/news195106002.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Jun 2010 06:10:02 EST news195106002 Young adult survivors of childhood cancers are four times more likely to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than their control group siblings, a Childhood Cancer Survivors Study has found. http://phys.org/news192123642.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 May 2010 18:40:01 EST news192123642 (PhysOrg.com) -- Terry Keane, a longtime PTSD researcher and associate chief of staff for research and development at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, says researchers in recent years have learned much about post-traumatic stress, including that it is both more prevalent and more treatable than previously supposed. http://phys.org/news188670629.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:50:02 EST news188670629 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) threatens to overload healthcare and social support systems worldwide as the number of cases rises and existing treatments are not sufficiently effective. New approaches to treatment are relying on technology, such as virtual reality, to alleviate the psychologically damaging effects of PTSD, and these innovative solutions are explored in a special issue of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. http://phys.org/news185124313.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:50:01 EST news185124313 Scientists have for the first time selectively blocked a conditioned fear memory in humans with a behavioral manipulation. Participants remained free of the fear memory for at least a year. The research builds on emerging evidence from animal studies that reactivating an emotional memory opens a 6-hour window of opportunity in which a training procedure can alter it. http://phys.org/news179587833.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:31:48 EST news179587833 A group of German investigators performed a controlled study on psychological help for Rwanda orphans of war. http://phys.org/news172915178.html Medicine & Health Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:00:02 EST news172915178 Though discoveries about Alzheimer's disease risk factors are often in the news, adults do not know about the relationship between Alzheimer's disease risk and heart health, nor that physical activity can be protective against dementia, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2009) in Vienna. http://phys.org/news166690799.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:30:01 EST news166690799 A receptor for glutamate, the most prominent neurotransmitter in the brain, plays a key role in the process of "unlearning," report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Their findings, published in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, could eventually help scientists develop new drug therapies to treat a variety of disorders, including phobias and anxiety disorders, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder. http://phys.org/news157137561.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:21:23 EST news157137561 Ecstasy may help suffers of post-traumatic stress learn to deal with their memories more effectively by encouraging a feeling of safety, according to an article in the Journal of Psychopharmacology published today by SAGE. http://phys.org/news155814236.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:44:31 EST news155814236