Laughing Gas May Help To Stop Distressing Memories From Forming

The Brain





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Traumatic events can cause PTSD, whereby distressing memories spontaneously interrupt other thoughts. Johan Larson/Shutterstock

While the brain’s ability to form memories enables us to learn from our experiences and retain essential knowledge, there are occasions when this works to our disadvantage. Highly distressing episodes, for example, can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if memories formed during such incidents become too deep-rooted, invading our consciousness with disturbing thoughts.