PKC Alpha - Memory and PTSD

Memory and PTSD

The scientists led by neuroscientist Dominique de Quervain of the University of Basel in Switzerland used memory tests and DNA studies to conclude that people who carried a particular DNA signature in at least one copy of a gene that encodes protein kinase C alpha had stronger memory than their peers; and brain scans of people with the genetic signature show stronger brain activation in parts of the prefrontal cortex compared with those who lacked the genetic feature. The team looked at the Rwandan refuges who had survive the 1994 genocide and found that the risk of PTSD in the refugees with strong memory signature is twice of that in the refugees without the genetic signature.