Similar studies (from Columbia and elsewhere) have linked mother’s exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which is a common pollutant emitted by the burning of fossil fuels to depression, reduced IQs, developmental delays and increased anxiety.

http://www.idibell.cat/modul/news/en/731/our-brain-dissociates-emotional-response-from-explicit-memory-in-fearful-situations

Nov. 5, 2014

Researchers at the Cognition and Brain Plasticity group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the University of Barcelona have been tracking the traces of implicit and explicit memories of fear in human. The study has been published in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and describes how in a context of fear, our brain differently encodes contextual memory of a negative event (the place, what we saw...) and emotional response associated.

•••••

"In the traumatic events seems that over time there is a portion of memory that is erased or we do not have access, we forget the details but still maintaining the emotional reaction. The imprint is divided into two separate paths. The brain dissociates the explicit memory of a negative event from the emotional response".

This may help to understand why in pathological situations of post-traumatic stress disorders, the uncontrolled emotional response linked to the negative event is generated without knowing what causes it.

•••••