Research Led by Willie Reveals Precise Targeting of Amygdala May Improve PTSD Symptoms

New research led by Dell Medical School associate professor of neurosurgery Jon Willie, M.D., Ph.D., is helping lead to a better understanding of how the brain drives persistent threat responses in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Willie and fellow researchers targeted the right amygdala by performing an ablation in a man with refractory epilepsy and chronic PTSD. They found that precisely targeting part of the amygdala not only improved his PTSD symptoms but also reduced his tendency to perceive uncertain facial expressions as threatening.

The study also identified a new biomarker associated with threat processing, adding to growing research on the potential of precise, amygdala-based therapies for severe PTSD.

Read the article, published in Nature Communications.