UNE researchers publish study that could help patients with PTSD

Michael Burman, Ph.D., associate professor and Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences K-12 outreach coordinator recently published a paper in the journal, Behavioural Brain Research, that found that a new type of drug could be useful for treating disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Burman, along with collaborators Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president of Research and Scholarship’ neuroscience major Kerribeth Szolusha ’15; CEN interns Rebecca Bind and Kristen Kerney and external collaborator Dale Boger, Ph.D., studied a relatively new class of compounds called FAAH inhibitors that enhance the activity of the endogenous cannabinoid system in the brain. In these experiments, Burman and his team showed these drugs can reduce later fear following a traumatic experience and thus might be useful for treating disorders such as PTSD.