The brain stores long-term memories in the hippocampus, while the amygdala helps consolidate memories and the strong feelings associated with them. PTSD arises when someone remembers a traumatic event, such as a traffic accident; the hippocampus enables the person to remember while the amygdala reactivates the strong feelings involved. Scientists are trying to take the fear out of concrete memories using three different methods.
In a short window of time after the memory has been reactivated in safe surroundings, it can be altered and stored in a form that relates it to feelings of safety and calm instead of the original feeling of panic and fear.
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