Study: Brain Reacts Faster To Perceived Threat After Prior Trauma

A study carried out at the University of Haifa has identified neural pathways in the brain that react faster to a perceived threat if the subject has undergone a prior traumatic event. 

The study, led by research student Dr. Ami Ritter of the School of Psychological Sciences, showed that mice were more likely to keep their distance and even flee from robotic toy beetles after having undergone major trauma than they were before. 

To identify any significant changes in the brains of the mice, the researchers recorded activity in the area of the brian that helps react swiftly to visual and auditory stimuli. They realized that the neural pathways after the traumatic event respond milliseconds before the mouse tries to escape when the distance is bigger. 

The research also suggests that when these neural pathways are inhibited, the mice no longer feels the need to maintain a safe distance from the toy beetles. This suggests that the neuron pathways affect the way the mice respond to perceived threats. 

“The identification of these pathways is important for our understanding of the specific changes that take place in the brain following an extreme adverse event. The brain is unique in that it changes constantly, for example when we learn,” said Dr. Oded Klavir of the School of Psychological Sciences, the author of the study. 

“An extreme adverse event may create very strong learning associated with irreversible changes in the brain, leading to inflexible and maladaptive behaviors.”

The study was published in the prestigious Nature Communications journal.