Abstract

BAZAN BLANCO, Marília  and  MATOS DO CANTO-DE-SOUZA, Azair Liane. Anxiety, Memory and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Ansiedad, Memoria y el Trastorno de Estrés Post-Traumático. CES Psicol [online]. 2018, vol.11, n.2, pp.53-65. ISSN 2011-3080.  https://doi.org/10.21615/cesp.11.2.5.

A Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may appear after experiencing a stressful situation and is characterized by recalling the trauma, avoiding situations that remind it, and through persistent hyperarousal. Its etiology and symptoms suggest the involvement of various behavioral systems, such as an exaggerated aversive conditioning, difficulty in extinguishing the traumatic memory and behavioral sensitization, which is characterized by an intense response before moderate stressors not related to trauma. Regarding to the neurobiology of the disorder, it is suggested a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, an exaggerated responsiveness of amygdala with alteration of its modulation by ventromedial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, sympathetic hyperfunction of the adrenal axis and hypothalamic hypofunction of pituitary-adrenal axis. It is concluded that PTSD is a disorder related to anxiety and memory.

Keywords : Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; PTSD; Anxiety; Memory.

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