Mental Health Center

New Genetic Clues to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

How Common Is the Gene? continued...

If that works, it may be the first step in the development of new treatments for the disorder, which often causes terrifying flashbacks, nightmares, depression, anxiety, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, numbness, and anger.

“The fear circuits in the brain are very highly conserved from humans all the way down to mice,” Ressler says. “So I personally think we’re going to understand the neurobiology of PTSD much faster than we do many other disorders, so for me, I certainly want to help come up with that.”