PTSD #412

March 10, 2017

This week on Science for the People, we’re talking about our changing understanding of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how we define the trauma that can trigger it. We speak with Alexei Morozov, an Assistant Professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, about his work studying the social signals of distress in mouse models, and about how animal models are helping us better understand PTSD in humans. And we talk with Dr. Monnica Williams, Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut and licensed psychologist, about our changing understanding of what trauma is and how it can be caused.

Guests:

  • Alexei Morozov
  • Monnica Williams

Guest Bios

Alexei Morozov

Alexei Morozov is an Assistant Professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. He and his lab are interested in neuronal substrates responsible for transmission of social signals of distress, and use mouse models to help determine how these circuits become altered in pathological conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

Monnica Williams

Dr. Monnica Williams is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut, Director of the Culture and Mental Health Disparities Lab, and the Director of the Behavioural Wellness Clinic in Louisville Kentucky. Previously she was an Assistant Professor at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She is a board certified cognitive behavioural specialist and a licensed psychologist in two states. You can find her blog series "Culturally Speaking" at Psychological Today.