scarring of the brain from trauma demonstrated on functional MRI scan

[Disillusioned]

From article in LA Times by Melissa Healy entitled Study: Soldiers’ brains bear scars of emotional wounds.

Washington—18 months after they have returned from a war zone, soldiers bear an unmistakable sign of emotional trauma deep inside their brains. But in most, a key node of the brain’s fear circuitry returns to normal, perhaps keeping mental illness such as post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, from developing, says a new study published by the journal of Molecular Psychiatry.

The study, a follow-up to an earlier brain-imagining study conducted by Dutch researchers, put two groups of Dutch soldiers into a brain scanner called a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner, and had them look at pictures of people expressing anger or fear. One group of 23 soldiers was scanned just after returning from Afghanistan. A second group of participating soldiers had not been deployed to any war zone.

In the first study, immediately after the first group of soldiers’ return, the two groups showed very different brain patterns in response to the angry and fearful faces. In the post-deployment soldiers, the amygdala, an almond-shaped region deep in the brain where fear and other highly charged emotional reactions are processed, became highly active when they looked at faces demonstrating fright or anger. In the non-deployed soldiers, the pictures did not elicit strong activity in the amygdala.

When the amygdala of a healthy, normal individual becomes highly active, suggesting a strong emotion such as fear, imaging studies usually show a sudden drop in activity in the dorsal anterior cingualte cortex—a brain structure that has been linked to emotional regulation. Once the fear has passed, that structure kicks bact in—keeping us, perhaps, on an emotional even keel.

This was the pattern Dutch researchers saw consistently in nondeployed soldiers.

But immediately after returning from the war zone, Dutch soldiers showed an altered pattern in the brain scan. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex tended to stay online even when the amygdala was working overtime, suggesting an ongoing struggle for control.

18 months after returning home from a war zone, according to the published study, deployed soldiers showed markedly less activation in their amygdalae in response to the fearful and angry faces, --a sign that suggests the “hypervigilance” that soldiers rely on in combat situations (and which persists in people with post-traumatic stress disorder) had receded.

But in one key way, their emotional responses did not return to a normal push-pull pattern. These soldiers’ emotional regulation response—high activity in the dorsal anterior cingulated cortex—still did not automatically go quiet when the amygdala became active, or kick back in when the amygdala returned to its resting state. The authors suggested that this disturbed state may be a remnant of their stress response to combat—a scar that may heal in some and reopen in others, possibly leading to PTSD

[TooSensitive]

Interesting article, D. Thx for sharing here. I assume that your point in doing so is to raise the question of how a PA's brain might look on an MRI scan, as well as how a partner's brain might look on an MRI scan. And subsequently, how both might look 18 months down the road toward recovery.

My PTSD symptoms ebb and flow, as my emotions do. Sometimes they seem absent, only to be triggered back up to the surface again, depending. My son thinks it's funny if I jump at the mere sound of my own cell phone. My h thinks it's funny when the sound of our dog barking causes me to jump. Most of the time, noise does not do this to me any longer. But some days, it still does. There are plenty of other symptoms which come and go as well. It all depends upon what kind of a day I am having, and on how many days in a row I've had those.

[Disillusioned]

Interesting article, D. Thx for sharing here. I assume that your point in doing so is to raise the question of how a PA's brain might look on an MRI scan, as well as how a partner's brain might look on an MRI scan. And subsequently, how both might look 18 months down the road toward recovery. quote from TS

Exactly what I meant, TS. The brain is able to be injured, healed, and scarred. Think we need to remember and be careful what we put into it, how we use it, and how to treat others.
disillusioned

[maggie]

I've also read some neurological research studies on addiction and its impact on the brain. ( frontal lobe )

Researchers found that the changes that occur in the frontal lobe from addiction are quite similar; regardless of the type of addiction.
Heroin addicts, gambling addicts, pornography addicts and food addicts!! Doesn't seem possible does it? But I think it was the overflooding of the body's natural chemicals and hormones, caused by overindulgence in food, sx, or drugs.

[Disillusioned]

Certainly makes sense, Maggie. Even the Bible talks about moderation in all things and recommends periodic fasting. Might not be such an antiquated idea.
disillusioned

[TooSensitive]

I don't think there should be any moderation when it comes to the work of the devil (p). I feel that when it comes to that, there should only be permanent fasting...