Browsing by Subject "valkea aine"

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing a traumatic event. Current understanding of the pathogenesis of PTSD is still unclear, and existing theories have proven insufficient to explain the wide range of cognitive and emotional symptoms related to it. Findings of the neural basis of the disorder have been inconsistent, but most studies support the involvement of the prefrontal cortex and regions regulating fear and memory. Heightened responses of the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex are seen as predisposing vulnerabilities, whereas changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus represent abnormalities that can lead to the disorder if acquired following stress exposure. The experience of trauma itself can have an effect on brain function, and the distinction can only be made by comparing individuals with PTSD to a trauma-exposed control group. Future studies need to take into account the effect of co-occurring disorders and different types of trauma, and proceed to investigate causal relations behind the neural abnormalities.