Small Scan Study Examines How Stress May Alter The Brain. HealthDay (Mozes) reports that “a small study of people who experienced the devastating 2011 earthquake in Japan shows that although traumatic events can shrink parts of the brain, some of those regions can rebound once a person’s self-esteem returns.” The study, published online April 29 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, involved 37 people, all of whom underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain right after the earthquake and then about a year later. Participants were also assessed for post-traumatic stress disorder. The brain scans immediately after the earthquake revealed that “loss of self-esteem was accompanied by a downsizing of the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex,” but both recovered about a year later.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 16:51:20 +0000