PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Brain imaging shows how children inherit their parents' anxiety

2015-07-06
(Press-News.org) Madison, Wis. -- In rhesus monkey families - just as in their human cousins - anxious parents are more likely to have anxious offspring. And a new study in an extended family of monkeys provides important insights into how the risk of developing anxiety and depression is passed from parents to children.

The study from the Department of Psychiatry and the Health Emotions Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows how an over-active brain circuit involving three brain areas inherited from generation to generation may set the stage for developing anxiety and depressive disorders. The study is being published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It shows that elevated activity in this prefrontal- limbic -midbrain circuit is likely involved in mediating the in-born risk for extreme anxiety, anxious temperament that can be observed in early childhood. "Over-activity of these three brain regions are inherited brain alterations that are directly linked to the later life risk to develop anxiety and depression,'' says senior author Dr. Ned Kalin, chair of psychiatry at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. "This is a big step in understanding the neural underpinnings of inherited anxiety and begins to give us more selective targets for treatment." Previous research by Kalin's group has shown that anxious temperament is inherited, and explained the brain circuits involved. About half of children who show extreme anxiety go on to develop stress-related psychiatric disorders later in life. Monkeys, like humans, can be temperamentally anxious and pass their anxiety-related genes on to the next generation. By studying nearly 600 young rhesus monkeys from a large multi-generational family, Drs. Andrew Fox, Kalin, and colleagues found that about 35 percent of variation in anxiety-like tendencies is explained by family history. To understand which brain regions are responsible for passing anxiety from generation to generation, the authors measured anxiety-related behavior with high-resolution functional and structural brain imaging. They exposed the young monkeys to a mildly threatening situation that a child would also encounter, exposure to a stranger who does not make eye contact with the monkey. During this encounter, they used imaging methods commonly used in humans (positron emission tomography, PET) to identify brain regions in which increased metabolism predicted each individual's level of anxiety. By closely examining how individual differences in brain function and anxiety-related behavior fall through the family tree, the authors identified brain systems responsible for the parent-to-child transmission of anxiety-related behavior. Using this "genetic correlation" approach, the authors found the neural circuit where metabolism and an early-life anxious temperament are likely to share the same genetic basis. Interestingly, the brain circuit that was genetically correlated with individual differences in early-life anxiety involved three survival-related brain regions. These regions were located in the brain stem, the most primitive part of the brain; the amygdala, the limbic brain fear center; and the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for higher-level reasoning and is fully developed only in humans and their primate cousins. "Basically, we think that to a certain extent, anxiety can provide an evolutionary advantage because it helps an individual recognize and avoid danger, but when the circuits are over-active, it becomes a problem and can result in anxiety and depressive disorders," Kalin explains. Surprisingly, these studies found that it was the function of these brain structures - and not their size - that was responsible for the genetic transfer of an anxious temperament. Although the search for the genetic underpinnings of anxiety have thus far been elusive, this research helps explain how genes might affect brain function and lead to extreme childhood anxiety, which greatly increases the risk to develop anxiety and depressive disorders. "Now that we know where to look, we can develop a better understanding of the molecular alterations that give rise to anxiety-related brain function,'' Kalin says. "Our genes shape our brains to help make us who we are."

INFORMATION:

The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the full paper, titled "Intergenerational Neural Mediators of Early-Life Anxious Temperament," is available here http://www.pnas.org/content/early/recent



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Why don't men live as long as women?

2015-07-06
Across the entire world, women can expect to live longer than men. But why does this occur, and was this always the case? According to a new study led by University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology researchers, significant differences in life expectancies between the sexes first emerged as recently as the turn of the 20th century. As infectious disease prevention, improved diets and other positive health behaviors were adopted by people born during the 1800s and early 1900s, death rates plummeted, but women began reaping the longevity benefits ...

Pitt scientists lead consensus guidelines for thyroid cancer molecular tests

2015-07-06
PITTSBURGH, July 6, 2015 - University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) scientists recently led a panel of experts in revising national guidelines for thyroid cancer testing to reflect newly available tests that better incorporate personalized medicine into diagnosing the condition. Their clinical explanation for when to use and how to interpret thyroid cancer tests is published in the July issue of the scientific journal Thyroid. The American Thyroid Association is revising its 2015 Guidelines for Thyroid Nodule and Thyroid Cancer Management to direct doctors to ...

EARTH: Dinologue -- a dino blog

2015-07-06
Alexandria, VA - With the Internet, science and a little imagination, scientists are able to bring remote worlds to life. Dinologue.com brings the Mesozoic to life, and EARTH Magazine reviews it in the July 2015 issue. The website was created through a partnership between Parallax Film Productions and popular science writer, and amateur paleontologist, Brian Switek. The Dinologue portal is filled with captivating articles and adventurous videos to help bring science and paleontology to the masses. Get the geoscientist's perspective of Dinologue in EARTH Magazine: http://bit.ly/1JJDy7r. The ...

Cactus scientists offer insights to solve future global agricultural challenges

2015-07-06
Researchers have provided a new roadmap for tackling future agricultural production issues by using solutions that involve crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), a specialized type of photosynthesis that enhances the efficiency by which plants use water. Plants that use CAM, which include cacti and agave, are typically found in dry environments. Increasing agricultural production to accommodate society's growing population might be achieved by developing CAM crops as new sources for food, feed, fiber, and bioenergy or by engineering non-CAM crops to use CAM strategies to ...

Dental pulp cell transplants help regenerate peripheral nerves

2015-07-06
Putnam Valley, N.Y. (July 6, 2015) - Peripheral nerve injuries often are caused by trauma or surgical complications and can result in considerable disabilities. Regeneration of peripheral nerves can be accomplished effectively using autologous (self-donated) nerve grafts, but that procedure may sacrifice a functional nerve and cause loss of sensation in another part of the patient's body. Searching for an alternative to autologous nerve grafts (autografts), researchers in Japan transplanted mobilized dental pulp stem cells (MDPSCs) into laboratory rats with sciatic nerve ...

Experts express concern over cyclone trends in the British-Irish Isles

2015-07-06
By studying climate data in the British-Irish Isles over a 142-year period, researchers have confirmed the important role of cyclones. Seasonal precipitation totals were strongly related to cyclone frequency, especially during summer. The researchers found that relative to the 1961-1990 period, summers have become much wetter and more cyclonic. The move towards wetter summers in recent years is more of a re-establishment of conditions typical of the earlier half of the 20th Century rather than being unusual in the long term. Recent years have seen three of the stormiest ...

Investigators insert large DNA sequence into mammalian cells

2015-07-06
For the first time, researchers have used a simplified technique derived from a defense mechanism evolved by bacteria and other single-celled organisms to successfully insert a large DNA sequence into a predetermined genomic site in mammalian cells. The methods used may help investigators genetically engineer cells to produce high levels of certain proteins--for example by placing the DNA sequence of a particular protein at the site of a highly active gene. "The CRISPR-Cas system has been previously used to insert a foreign DNA sequence into a targeted genomic site ...

Societal challenges and new treatments for Ebola virus disease

2015-07-06
Since Ebola was first described in 1976, there have been several outbreaks, but all have been self-limiting. In a new Journal of Internal Medicine review, Dr. Ali Mirazimi of the Karolinska Institutet considers why the latest outbreak occurred and discusses the factors that contributed to making it the largest, most sustained, and most widespread outbreak of Ebola. He also notes that several potential treatments are now undergoing clinical trials and have shown initial promising results. "Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases will continue to challenge both human ...

Non-invasive technique may help detect skin and other cancers

2015-07-06
Researchers have developed a non-invasive technique that allows clinicians to accurately detect various forms of skin cancer. The current clinical "gold standard" non-invasive technique, called dermoscopy, is a highly subjective method. But by using what's called Raman spectroscopy, investigators found that malignant melanoma could be detected with an accuracy of 91% and non-melanoma skin cancers could be detected with accuracy between 73% and 85%. "The non-invasive and label-free nature of Raman spectroscopy enables the application in various medical fields. The method ...

Why the skin wrinkles more on certain parts of the face

2015-07-06
Differences in the number of oil-secreting glands in the skin may help explain why wrinkles are shallower in the forehead than in the outer eye area, suggests new research conducted on cadavers. Investigators suspect that the presence of oil-secreting glands and a thinner inner layer of skin, or dermis, may let the skin deform more easily and might be a cause for the development of wrinkles. The findings are published in Clinical Anatomy. INFORMATION: ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Brain imaging shows how children inherit their parents' anxiety