High-Dose Hormone Treatment Might Reduce Risk For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Sunday, October 26, 2008 - 10:14 in Psychology & Sociology

Cortisol helps our bodies cope with stress, but what about its effects on the brain? A new study in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that the answer to this question is complex. In an animal model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), high doses of a cortisol-related substance, corticosterone, prevented negative consequences of stress exposure, including increased startle response and behavioral freezing when exposed to reminders of the stress. However, low-dose corticosterone potentiated these responses.

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