Suppose you had an awful experience, something traumatic which shook you up and upset you deeply. What would the effects of that be? How would you cope? Would you be able to deal with your memories, or would you have flashbacks, panic attacks, feel unable to get on with your life?
Researchers in Germany and the USA have been studying why some people develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but others, in the same traumatic circumstances, don’t get the disorder and manage to cope with just bad memories.
The answer appears to be nature, not nurture, and is linked to one of the permissive amines, dopamine. Read the rest of this entry »