The occurrence if a trauma causes the reptilian brain to take over kicking in the flight or fight response. Similarly, all non-essential functions of the body shut down. When a threat ceases the higher functions resume as the parasympathetic nervous system shifts to the other functions. A traumatic event affects three parts of the brain; the amygdala, hippocampus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The three complete a stress circuit within the brain and are behind the symptoms experienced by an individual. According to Akiki et al., (2017) the hippocampus is the most affected of the three. It is responsible for memory and regulation of storage and retrieval of information as well as the differentiation of present and past experiences. The authors controlled the age and cranial volume and conducted corrections for multiple comparisons. They found out that participants who had severe PTSD had an indention in the anterior of the right hippocampus as well as an indention in the right amygdala. An individual with PTSD can easily experience panic, fear, and aggression if they are exposed to an environment that is similar to where the trauma took place. It, therefore, becomes difficult for such an individual to differentiate between the present situation and past memories. The victim, therefore, is likely to be stuck in the reactive mode. The purpose of this research is to examine how PTSD affects the hippocampus.
Hypothesis
The effect of PTSD on the hippocampus is negligible as the memory of an individual is affected by many factors. It is therefore not true that PTSD has a direct impact on the hippocampus. Similarly, there are no direct relationships between PTSD and the memory of an individual. It is, therefore, necessary to determine the influence of PTSD on the memory of an individual which will, therefore, help in the diagnosis of the condition.
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This study will combine primary and secondary data to determine the effect of PTSD on the Hippocampus. The study will borrow heavily from previous research by conducting a literature review of journal articles and other studies conducted in the subject area. The review of previous literature will identify journal articles in the university repository and other online sources on the topic. Similarly, the study will borrow heavily from other medical studies on PTSD and its diagnosis.
Methods
The researcher will write a systematic literature review which will involve the collection of published articles on PTSD and its effects on the hippocampus. The process will involve collecting published articles that relate to the topic and analyzing their findings to obtain an inference on the effect of PTSD on the hippocampus. A systematic review of the literature will be conducted where the researcher will focus on journal databases, library catalogs, and subject-specific professional websites and newspaper articles.
Consistency will be maintained throughout the research. The search term to be used in the different resources includes post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic events, hippocampus, and memory. Similarly, the study will search the entire title in the different resources. Additionally, the research will only use articles that are five years or less. Other inclusion criteria for research articles include relevance to the topic, peer-reviewed, quantitative and qualitative studies and such articles must have been based in works done in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Australia.
Ethical issues will also be considered in this study. Some of the considerations involved include access of information in a lawful way, reporting the information in an accurate way, protection of the identity of the individual and organizations discussed in the research. Other considerations include honesty, and acknowledging other people work. Reporting will also consider ethical issues.
Results and Discussion
PTSD is a severe condition affecting individuals in the U.S. probably due to the increase in the number of traumatic events and war veteran. The condition has a significant effect on the hippocampus as it affects the transfer of short-term and long-term memory. According to MRI studies, individuals with PTSD have the smaller hippocampus. Similarly, the literature review shows that PTSD affects the hippocampus. Research studies show that exposure to traumatic events affect the memory of an individual making it difficult for them to differentiate between a past or present experience. Such exposure forces them to relate the current environment to the environment where the event occurred. According to a study by Mohlenhoff, Chao, Buckley, Weiner & Neylan, (2014), there was no association between PTSD and lower hippocampus volume. The researchers presented a broad research agenda on sleep and the size of the hippocampus. In another study by Starcevic et al. (2014), there was no correlation between PTSD and the associated parameters apart from the left and the right amygdala.
There are conflicting results in the effect of PTSD on the hippocampus. Different studies show different results. However, there is widespread agreement by researchers that PTSD affects the volume of the hippocampus. A further literature review is therefore required to address this issue and arrive at a generally acceptable agreement.
References
Akiki, T., Averill, C., Wrocklage, K., Schweinsburg, B., Scott, J., & Martini, B. et al. (2017). The Association of PTSD Symptom Severity With Localized Hippocampus and Amygdala Abnormalities. Chronic Stress , 1 , 247054701772406. doi: 10.1177/2470547017724069
Mohlenhoff, B., Chao, L., Buckley, S., Weiner, M., & Neylan, T. (2014). Are hippocampal size differences in posttraumatic stress disorder mediated by sleep pathology?. Alzheimer's & Dementia , 10 (3), S146-S154. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2014.04.016
Starcevic, A., Postic, S., Radojicic, Z., Starcevic, B., Milovanovic, S., & Ilankovic, A. et al. (2014). Volumetric Analysis of the Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Prefrontal Cortex in Therapy-Naive PTSD Participants. Biomed Research International , 2014 , 1-6. doi: 10.1155/2014/968495
