Post traumatic stress disorder may be linked to a smaller brain area regulating fear and anxiety response. That's the finding of a from researchers at Duke. Psychiatry professor Raj Morey works at and the . He's the lead author of the study. Morey says in 200 recent combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, a region of the brain called the amygdala was smaller in those suffering from PTSD. That could mean soldiers with smaller amygdalas are more vulnerable to the disorder.
Raj Morey: Amygdala volume would not be the only explanation for a vulnerability. There would probably be a whole host of factors that would constitute a vulnerability. I think this is just one piece of that puzzle that we will try to create to kind of define what are all the factors that constitute a vulnerability.
Morey says eventually, a knowledge of all those factors could make it possible to target treatment more effectively.
