Getting scared is part of life. Whether it's animals, heights, the dark, bugs, or flying in an airplane, we all experience fears. Sometimes, you have a bad experience and get scared-- but then when you do it again, you realize it's not actually scary or dangerous. Maybe you visited a haunted house as a kid and you felt nervous, convinced something bad was going to happen, or that you would get hurt. Then, as an adult, you went back to the haunted house and nothing bad happened, so you weren't afraid or anticipating danger anymore.

While this is just an analogy, this is applicable to real life in many different scenarios. Just as there is a neural circuit for establishing fear, there is also one to overwrite a fearful memory with a new memory that signals to you that you are safe.

In this episode, Dr. Jonathan Karp and student producer Kaya Basatemur discuss a recent paper that figures out what these circuits are, how they work, and how we can eliminate fearful memories faster. In the future, this could possibly lead to more research for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a disorder in which a person cannot forget traumatic memories. Tune in to the latest episode of Health 411 to find out more about these recently discovered neural circuits and what makes them so important!

Article Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/04/250428220605.htm