Researchers report that in 463 survivors of the rebel war in Northern Uganda and in 350 survivors of the Rwandan genocide, epigenetic modification of the gene NTRK2, which plays a role in memory formation, was associated with risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the epigenetic modification consists of gene methylation and predates the trauma, and the findings suggest that the modification may reduce the risk of PTSD in traumatized individuals, according to the authors.
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Article #20-08415: "NTRK2 methylation is related to reduced PTSD risk in two African cohorts of trauma survivors," by Vanja Vukojevic et al .
MEDIA CONTACT: James McGaugh, University of California, Irvine, CA; e-mail: james.mcgaugh@uci.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences