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Regular light-intensity exercise can help erase fear memories and prevent PTSD, study suggests
Medical Xpress / University of Tsukuba / Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise ^ | Oct. 4, 2024 | Ryo Shimoda et al

Posted on 10/12/2024 9:31:31 PM PDT by ConservativeMind

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental disorder caused by severe stress. Recent research suggests that exercise can help prevent and treat PTSD. However, the specific effects of light-intensity exercise (LIE) on PTSD symptoms remain unclear.

One hypothesis is that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in eliminating fear memories. This molecule's expression in the hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for memory and learning, is known to increase with habitual exercise.

Researchers used an animal treadmill exercise model specifically designed to determine exercise intensity based on lactate threshold. This model allowed them to explore whether regular exercise can erase fear memories and whether BDNF is involved in this process.

Rats were initially placed in a chamber and subjected to mild electrical stimulation to induce fear memories. Subsequently, the rats underwent LIE training for four weeks. After the training period, the rats were placed back in the chamber and their behavior was observed and compared with that of rats that did not undergo exercise training.

Typically, rats exhibit freezing behavior when experiencing fear. Initially, all rats demonstrated fear-induced freezing behavior. However, rats that were regularly exercised gradually became more active. This indicates that regular exercise facilitated the erasure of fear memories.

Furthermore, when BDNF signaling was inhibited in the rats through the administration of a specific drug, the effects of exercise on fear memory erasure disappeared, indicating that BDNF signaling is involved in the erasure of fear memories via LIE.

The aforementioned findings indicate that PTSD psychiatric symptoms caused by intense stress may be alleviated via continuous LIE because LIE enhances BDNF activity in the hippocampus.

PTSD patients frequently experience concurrent depressive symptoms and struggle to maintain a consistent exercise routine. The findings of this study show that even LIE can effectively erase fear memories.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: hippocampus; ptsd
Light-intensity exercise can mitigate fear memories and allow for normal activity, in animal models.
1 posted on 10/12/2024 9:31:31 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
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To: Mazey; ckilmer; goodnesswins; Jane Long; BusterDog; jy8z; ProtectOurFreedom; matthew fuller; ...

The “Take Charge Of Your Health” Ping List

This high volume ping list is for health articles and studies which describe something you or your doctor, when informed, may be able to immediately implement for your benefit.

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2 posted on 10/12/2024 9:32:04 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; BraveMan; cardinal4; ...

3 posted on 10/12/2024 9:54:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: ConservativeMind

My understanding of PTSD, in particular that caused by war time service or severe sexual assault, never goes away. PTSD is also very misunderstood by the general public. For many combat veterans their whole personality changes into a defensive roll, almost to the point of paranoia. Trust in others is severely eroded which may cause reclusiveness or in a few cases violent outbreaks.

My point is exercise may help, but there is no cure for PTSD. It’s there for life.


4 posted on 10/13/2024 4:39:48 AM PDT by redfreedom (May God save us from what the Democrats do in the name of good.)
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To: ConservativeMind

Junk research.

Of course action oriented exercise reduces fear.

PTSD is a topic I have conducted research for many years. Of the 11 medically approved treatments, only one, psychotherapy, actually resolves the root cause. The other ten treatment methodologies only block the symptoms.

The reason for this is that the trauma memory is not stored in the brain. While psychotherapy involves owning the traumatic memory and reprogramming the attached perception, all the rest are neural blocking techniques. This includes stellate ganglion injections, pharmacology, EMDR and Trans Magnetic Brain Stimulation.

At a psychiatric conference I attended on PTSD research, Dr. Skip Rizzo presented his research using Virtual Reality in conjunction with psychotherapy. He had great success.

Walter Reed Hospital tried using Virtual Reality and found it exacerbated the trauma as they used it incorrectly as Repeated Exposure Desensitization Treatment and found it merely reinforced the severity of the trauma.

The BDNF change in the hippocampus found in this research is merely a result of distraction in the focus within the thalamus that does priority sorting of neural input.


5 posted on 10/13/2024 7:52:42 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: redfreedom

I have worked with severe PTSD in Veterans and trauma experiencers with near 100% resolution.

The key is to find the initial perceptual programming event that predisposed the person to PTSD. Often this happened in early childhood.

I have the advantage in that the stored traumatic memories are physical objects to my perception. The person need not say anything. They merely think of the trauma and the stored memory of the event becomes physical to me. There are several techniques using plasticity to reprogram the stored memory and remove the intense emotion attached to the memory.

This also works very well when working with victims of violent rape.


6 posted on 10/13/2024 8:02:33 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: tired&retired

100% resolution?

In other words the constant state of alertness is gone? The exaggerated response to an unexpected noise is gone? The constant checking out of a new area for oddities is gone? The alertness to unexpected odors is gone?

There’s a horde of personality oddities combat PTSD people acquire. I just cannot see them all going away.

But then again the VA’s definition of 100% may differ from those that actually have PTSD.


7 posted on 10/13/2024 9:03:57 AM PDT by redfreedom (May God save us from what the Democrats do in the name of good.)
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To: redfreedom

I say 100% based upon actual experiences. Some with active duty while in state prison due to severe flashbacks that caused police SWAT Team confrontations.

I specialize in finding the root cause of the anxiety.

I presented to a government think tank in Washington DC back in 2002. It consisted of retired generals and government officials, including the CIA. THIS WAS AFTER 9-11, but begore Bush Sr. and Genrral Swartzkoff gave Sadam Hussain a thumping. I explained to the group that the severity of PTSD would be much greater in the upcoming war than in past wars, including the Vietnam War.

I also explained that there would be greater difficulty getting the military to follow orders.

Researchers try to call PTSD a moral injury, but they are wrong. It is an identity injury of which morals are only one part.

The current military training no longer requires a diminishing of the soldier’s individual identity to form a group identity. Thus the individual ego self identity takes personal responsibility for all actions experienced. Thus, they also carry the burden of the harm they caused or experienced.

An efficient military breaks down the individualism, thus the person just follows orders, often to their death.

In addition, the percentage of women with PTSD is much greater than the percentage of men with it. This has to do with emotional consciousness vs logical consciousness.


8 posted on 10/13/2024 9:26:30 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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