Why do bad memories and thoughts enter the mind?

According to Mehr reporter, quoted from Madison Net, doctors now think they know why PTSD patients and others can't keep distressing memories at bay.

Lack of sleep appears to interfere with people's ability to limit the retrieval of memories they prefer to suppress, according to a new study.

scans MRI It shows that well-rested people have more control over the areas of the brain that manage memories.

Scott Carney, senior researcher and assistant professor of psychology at the university York “This is very important to our understanding of mental health issues because it is well documented that those who suffer from anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder also have trouble sleeping,” England said.

For this study, researchers used MRI scans to observe the brain activity of 85 healthy adults. Half of the participants slept well in a sleep lab, while the other half stayed up all night.

The research team then tested the participants' ability to suppress memories.

“We have previously shown that the brain's ability to suppress such intrusive memories is conditioned by having restful sleep,” Carney said.

Study participants were asked to look at faces they had previously seen along with pictures of scenes. Some scenes were disturbing, such as the scene of a car crash or a fight.

For each face, they were asked to recall or suppress the scene associated with it.

According to the researchers, the well-rested participants had more activity in the prefrontal cortex — the area of ​​the brain that controls thoughts, actions, and emotions — compared to those who stayed up all night.

The results show that people who had a good sleep in hippocampusthe area that plays a role in memory recovery had less activity.

These results from MRI scans suggest that good sleep can provide better control over brain processes that control memory retrieval, allowing them to suppress intrusive thoughts.