Brain protein influences response to extreme stress:

A hungry soldier is left sitting alone for four hours. Hostile figures interrogate him for the next 50 minutes. The soldier is not hurt physically, but he doesn’t know when or how the ordeal will end.

Later, he’s permitted to sleep — for 19 minutes total during the course of three days.

In this mock captivity exercise that’s part of survival training, American soldiers respond in sharply different ways.

One man feels constantly that he’s watching himself from outside his body. Colors fade. His tormenters look motionless. Another man, just as sleepy and hungry, also loses focus at times, but mostly stays alert and calm.

Why the difference? Sac Bee