New Understanding Of How We Remember Traumatic Events

Neuroscientists and researchers at the University of Queensland discovered a theory that explains why it is so hard for us to forget traumatic events. The experiment consisted of many studies, lead by the Queensland Brain Institute,  of the amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain associates with the processing of emotions. After several studies, scientists discovered a cellular mechanism causing the formation of memories doing with emotional events, which occurs with a certain stress hormone that is present in emotional events. Dr. Louis Faber and her colleagues in the University of Queensland also show how adrenaline in the brain controls the chemical and electrical pathways that are responsible for memory formation. That is why our deepest memories are snapshots of high emotional impact. The new mechanism discovered, helps us understand how these memories are formed. Also, the discovery opens doors to further investigation of anxiety disorders and post-traumatic disorders. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081028103111.html