If they only had a brain...that could be measured, that is.
Latest news on the PTSD medical research front reveals that a specific region of the hippocamus portion of the brain known as the CA3/dentate gyrus is more than 11 percent smaller on average in those veterans with PTSD.
What does that mean, exactly? You can read the full article (or the actual study if you're so inclined), but I'd be happy to do you a service and give you the right-brain thinkers' version of it, a.k.a: "Hippos, Dental Floss and Greek Gyru Sandwiches for the Medically Ignorant."
So, here—after much stretching of my own pea-sized "dentate gyrus"—is my take on the results of this massively funded study (courtesy of your tax dollars):
1. CA3/dentate gyrus is the region in the hippocamus region of the brain. Hippocamus, for those of you who weren't paying attention in Biology class, is the finger-joint size structure found in both hemispheres of the brain. It is essential for laying down memories, as well as for retrieving them. In other words, you can survive a hip replacement, but if you lose, hurt, or damage your hippocamus (on campus or otherwise) you'll become an instant walking amnesiac.
