Now, drug that can stop post-traumatic stress disorder before it starts

London, Dec 8 (ANI): Northwestern University scientists have discovered a novel way to stop post-traumatic stress syndrome in its tracks-by injecting a calming drug into the brain.

They found that after a traumatic event the brain could become over-stimulated causing an ongoing, frenzied interaction between two brain proteins long after they should have disengaged.

"It's like they keep dancing even after the music stops," the Daily Mail quoted lead investigator Jelena Radulovic, as saying.

However, they found injecting two newly developed research drugs MPEP and MTEP, into the brain's hippocampus ended 'the dance.'

"We were able to stop the development of exaggerated fear with a simple, single drug treatment and found the window of time we have to intervene," said Radulovic.

However, the effect only worked if the drug was administered within five hours of the event.

The study, conducted with mice, was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry. (ANI)