Fear can make us more alert (and thereby potentially save our lives), but can also make us freeze. Now scientists found in mice that there is a switch in the brains that switches from the first to the second mode by brain chemistry and neural signalling. They also found a way to suppress the transition by an adeno-associated virus, if given early enough, but ineffective after the transition has happened. This finding may also explain why antidepressants are often ineffective in treating PTSD.

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