in humans, simply by taking action we’re circumventing the mechanism for the fear memory. The basal nucleus is the action pathway, and we can even spark it with thought. For one of my patients, who was traumatized by losing both his job and his girlfriend, I suggested that he start each day by getting to the gym, to keep from stewing in the trauma. He could also shift the flow from fear to action circuits by making a list of potential employers to call—a more classic example of active coping—but it wouldn’t affect the brain as broadly.
