[link] New research on why painful memories are so difficult to forget

[deborahjross]

A 65-year-old hypothesis called Hebbian plasticity may explain why painful memories are so difficult to forget. This idea states that in the face of trauma, such as watching a dog sink its teeth into your leg, more neurons in the brain fire electrical impulses in unison and make stronger connections to each other than under normal situations. Stronger connections make stronger memories.

The new findings are not only an important advance in researchers' understanding of how Hebbian plasticity works, but they also may lead to treatments to help patients forget horrible memories, such as those associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).