Research
New case study offers causal evidence linking the right amygdala to PTSD
PsyPost · By Eric W. Dolan ·
The Brief
- A case study reports on a man with drug-resistant epilepsy and severe PTSD.
- Selectively inactivating part of his right amygdala reduced his tendency to perceive ambiguous faces as fearful.
- The inactivation was followed by a sharp drop in trauma-related symptoms, according to the PsyPost summary.
Why it matters
The study offers causal rather than purely correlational evidence linking the right amygdala to PTSD, which could inform future research on targeted brain interventions. It is a single rare clinical case, so it cannot establish how the effect generalises to other patients.
Who’s affected
- neuroscientists studying fear and PTSD
- clinicians treating PTSD and drug-resistant epilepsy
- #amygdala
- #ptsd
- #neuroscience
- #epilepsy
- #fear processing
In a rare clinical case involving a man with drug-resistant epilepsy and severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), selectively inactivating part of his right amygdala reduced his tendency to perceive ambiguous faces as fearful and was followed by a sharp drop in trauma…