work featured on BBC

Anticipation 'boosts bad memory'

Volunteers had their brains scanned

Anticipating a gruesome or traumatic event makes it more vivid and deeply imprinted in the memory, a study says.

Researchers found if people were aware something was going to happen, a key memory-forming part of the brain fired.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison said the findings may have implications in the treatment of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study, based on 36 people, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

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