PTSD

New research shows that specific sleep patterns, like interrupted rest and falling asleep quickly, can predict lucid dreaming in people with PTSD. This could eventually help therapists use conscious dreaming to treat trauma-related nightmares.

Researchers have discovered that damage to specific communication pathways in the brain makes it harder to suppress unwanted traumatic memories, leading to intense, "here-and-now" flashbacks for people with PTSD.

The popular book The Body Keeps the Score has mainstreamed the idea that the body stores repressed traumatic memories. However, memory researchers warn this controversial concept risks reviving debunked theories and promoting therapies that generate false memories.

Following a traumatic event, some individuals develop mental health conditions like posttraumatic stress disorder or clinical depression. A massive new brain imaging study suggests these conditions are linked to the physical size of the brain's sensory relay station.

A new meta-analysis found that MDMA-assisted therapy significantly reduces PTSD symptoms. However, researchers warn the evidence quality is "very low" due to flaws in how the clinical trials were conducted, including a failure to use proper placebos.

A recent paper challenges the popular idea that the body literally stores psychological trauma. Researchers propose that trauma actually disrupts the brain's prediction systems, providing evidence that focused mental states could help restore cognitive flexibility.

Palestinian refugees displaced to Egypt experience extremely high rates of psychological distress. Using an innovative statistical approach, researchers mapped the interconnected symptoms of trauma, revealing specific mental health targets that differ greatly between men and women.

Researchers have identified a self-guided therapeutic process induced by magnesium-ibogaine. Published in npj Mental Health Research, the study sheds light on how veterans with brain injuries revisit traumatic memories to achieve psychological and cognitive healing.

A study in European Neuropsychopharmacology finds that ayahuasca helps rats learn that a previously dangerous environment is safe. This effect appears to rely on BDNF signaling within the infralimbic cortex, suggesting a potential biological pathway for treating trauma.

A new study shows that treating PTSD improves memory and attention in U.S. veterans. Researchers found that cognitive gains occurred regardless of whether patients used standard talk therapy or a yoga-based breathing intervention.

Post-traumatic stress disorder may physically age the brain. A study of 9/11 responders indicates that those with the condition display structural brain changes making them appear three years older than trauma-exposed individuals without the disorder.

A longitudinal study reveals that exposure to violence predicts depressive symptoms in teenage girls, whereas specific brain network changes are strongly linked to depression in teenage boys.

Scientists have linked the subjective intensity of ibogaine trips to tangible recovery in veterans. Those who felt a sense of unity and sacredness showed larger drops in trauma symptoms and slower brain wave frequencies one month later.

A new study suggests that people who naturally synchronize their brain activity with others are more resilient to trauma. The findings show reduced PTSD symptoms following the October 7 attacks in Israel among those with high neural alignment.

A new study reveals that nitrous oxide exposure can reverse the suppression of new neuron growth in the hippocampus. This treatment effectively reduced anxiety-like behaviors in a rat model of PTSD.