One area of the brain that is impacted by the post traumatic stress symptoms. The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in attention and learning, such as helping to direct attention, focusing on what is relevant. When PTSS impacts the prefrontal cortex, it can lead to difficulty paying attention and suppressing unwanted memories of trauma. It also can result in an individual having difficulty extinguishing their fear response, which leads to an individual being in a constant state of anxiety.