Scientists pinpoint casual pathway between traumatic brain injury and PTSDRSS Feed
Scientists from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have found evidence of a casual connection between traumatic brain injury and the subsequent development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ScienceDaily.com reports.
The study, which is published in the Biological Psychology journal, also suggests that people who sustain a mild traumatic brain injury are prone to a range of other anxiety disorders.
The researchers had been struck by the prevalence of PTSD amongst military veterans returning from service after sustaining a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. The question they attempted to answer was whether the PTSD was incidental - the events surrounding most TBIs in military service are usually very frightening - or whether a more mechanical connection existed.
In experiments with laboratory rats the researchers, led by UCLA Professor of Psychology Michael Fanselow, subjected the animals to 'fear conditioning' two days after sustaining an induced concussive brain injury. Another group of rats were subjected to the fear conditioning only, without sustaining a TBI.
The rats with TBI showed far more fear than non-injured animals. Professor Fanselow explained, "Something about the brain injury rendered them more susceptible to acquiring an inappropriately strong fear. It was as if the injury primed the brain for learning to be afraid."
Fanselow and his colleagues examined tissue from the animals' amygdala, a structure associated with the learning of fear responses. In contrast to the uninjured animals, tissue from the brain-injured rats was peppered with considerably more receptors for neurotransmitters known to promote excitation.
Professor Fanselow added:" This finding suggests that brain injury leaves the amygdala in a more excitable state that readies it for acquiring potent fear."
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