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

Neural mechanisms linked with vulnerability to anxiety

2011-02-10
(Press-News.org) New research examines the anxious brain during a fear conditioning task and provides insight into why some individuals may be more or less prone to anxiety disorders. The study, published by Cell Press in the February 10 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals neural mechanisms that may contribute to resilience against pathological fear and anxiety. The findings may help to direct therapeutic strategies for individuals who suffer from chronic anxiety as well as strategies that could help "at risk" individuals avoid developing anxiety disorders.

Previous studies have implicated a brain structure called the amygdala in the acquisition and expression of conditioned fear, this occurring when a stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, CS) becomes associated with an aversive object or event (the unconditioned stimulus, UCS). Another brain region, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), has been shown in both animals and humans to help inhibit conditioned fear after extinction training, during which the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS. However, it is not clear how certain personality characteristics, like a tendency or vulnerability towards anxiety, influence these mechanisms.

"We were interested in examining why it is that some of us can overcome the discrete fears and nonspecific anxiety that we experience in our lives more easily than others," explains senior study author, Dr. Sonia J. Bishop from the University of California, Berkeley. "Or, in other words, what differences in brain function might confer increased vulnerability for chronic fear and anxiety disorders?"

Dr. Bishop and colleagues performed a neuroimaging study to examine fear conditioning in human subjects who had been classified as having varying levels of "trait anxiety," a tendency to experience anxiety across a range of everyday situations. The researchers observed that subjects who had a high level of trait anxiety were more likely to have an enhanced amygdala response to CS fear cues and to show faster acquisition of learned "fear" of these cues. Individual differences in amygdala reactivity were independent of the second dimension of risk, this involving the vmPFC. Recruitment of this region during conditioned fear expression prior to extinction was linked with greater reduction in fear responses and was more pronounced in fear-resilient individuals.

The findings suggest that individual differences in amygdala and vmPFC function are independently associated with vulnerability to anxiety, with the amygdala potentially influencing the development of cue-specific fears (or phobias) and the vmPFC impacting the ability to downregulate both phasic fears and generalized anxiety. "An understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms by which trait vulnerability to pathological anxiety is conferred may aid not only in explaining the variability in symptoms, but also in informing choice intervention and prediction of treatment response," concludes Dr. Bishop.

Earlier this month, Dr. Bishop attended an awards ceremony at NIH in recognition of her receipt of one of twelve prestigious Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists given to enable her further pursuit of this important line of research.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Communication breakdown: Early defects in sensory synapses in motor neuron disease

2011-02-10
New research using a mouse model of the motor neuron disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) reveals an abnormality in the way that sensory information is relayed to motor neurons in the spinal cord. Importantly, this disruption in communication occurs very early in disease progression and precedes the neuronal death and muscle weakness that are the hallmark of the disease. The study, published by Cell Press in the February 10 issue of the journal Neuron, suggests that therapeutic strategies designed to improve communication at these spinal synapses might help to slow or ...

Treating mild strokes with clot-busting drug could save $200 million annually, study shows

2011-02-10
CINCINNATI—Treating mild strokes with the clot-busting drug approved for severe stroke could reduce the number of patients left disabled and save $200 million a year in disability costs, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). The study led by Pooja Khatri, MD, an associate professor in the department of neurology, examined the public health impact of treating mild strokes with the clot-busting drug intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). It is being presented Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Los Angeles at International Stroke Conference 2011, the ...

Sharp rise in street drug usage among stroke patients, study shows

2011-02-10
CINCINNATI—While smoking and alcohol use remained relatively stable over a 13-year study period, street drug use among stroke patients rose more than nine-fold, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). The findings are being presented Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Los Angeles at International Stroke Conference (ISC) 2011, the annual meeting of the American Stroke Association, by Felipe De los Rios, MD, of the UC Department of Neurology and the UC Neuroscience Institute. De los Rios is a fourth-year resident in the neurology department. The research is ...

Poorer patients have more severe ischemic strokes, study indicates

2011-02-10
CINCINNATI—Poorer patients have more severe ischemic strokes, or strokes resulting from blockages in blood vessels in the brain, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). A study led by Dawn Kleindorfer, MD, an associate professor in the department of neurology, found that increasing poverty in the neighborhood where the stroke patient lived was associated with worse stroke severity at presentation, independent of other known factors associated with stroke outcomes. The study is being presented Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Los Angeles at International ...

Omega 3's -- more evidence for their benefit

2011-02-10
Omega-3 fatty acids –fats commonly found in fish oil – were shown several years ago to prevent retinopathy, a major form of blindness, in a mouse model of the disease. A follow-up study, from the same research team at Children's Hospital Boston, now reveals exactly how omega-3's provide protection, and provides reassurance that widely used COX-inhibiting drugs like aspirin and NSAIDs don't negate their benefit. The findings, published in the February 9th issue of Science Translational Medicine, also suggest that omega-3's may be beneficial in diabetes. Retinopathy – an ...

Researchers at Harvard and MITRE produce world's first programmable nanoprocessor

Researchers at Harvard and MITRE produce worlds first programmable nanoprocessor
2011-02-10
Cambridge, Mass. – February 9, 2011 – Engineers and scientists collaborating at Harvard University and the MITRE Corporation have developed and demonstrated the world's first programmable nanoprocessor. The groundbreaking prototype computer system, described in a paper appearing today in the journal Nature, represents a significant step forward in the complexity of computer circuits that can be assembled from synthesized nanometer-scale components. It also represents an advance because these ultra-tiny nanocircuits can be programmed electronically to perform a number ...

Searching for the soul of the genome

2011-02-10
VIDEO: Kelly Frazer, PhD, describes genome-wide association studies and the new CAD risk findings. Click here for more information. The discovery that a "gene desert" on chromosome 9 was a hotspot for coronary artery disease (CAD) risk was among the highlights of findings produced recently by genome-wide association studies, which compare the genomes of many people for genetic variations and have been broadly used in the past few years to study hundreds of diseases and complex ...

Skin cells help to develop possible heart defect treatment in first-of-its-kind Stanford study

2011-02-10
STANFORD, Calif. — Using skin cells from young patients who have a severe genetic heart defect, Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have generated beating heart cells that carry the same genetic mutation. The newly created human heart cells — cardiomyocytes — allowed the researchers for the first time to examine and characterize the disorder at the cellular level. In a study to be published online Feb. 9 in Nature, the investigators also report their identification of a promising drug to reverse the heart malfunction — for which there are currently no decent ...

Human and mouse studies sharpen focus on cause of celiac disease

2011-02-10
Blocking a factor that can activate the human immune response against intestinal bacteria or certain foods could prevent the development of celiac disease in those most at risk, researchers report in the journal Nature. The study, to be published early online Feb. 9, points to two chemical signals—interleukin 15 and retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A—as triggers for the inflammatory response to gluten, a protein found in many grains that causes celiac disease. "We found that having elevated levels of IL-15 in the gut could initiate all the early stages of celiac ...

Researchers find public sector research responsible for many new drug discoveries

2011-02-10
(Boston) - Researchers from Boston University School's of Medicine (BUSM), Management (SMG) and Law (LAW), along with collaborators from the National Institutes of Health, believe that public-sector research has had a more immediate effect on improving public health than was previously realized. The findings, which appear as a Special Article in the February 10th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, have economic and policy implications. Historically, public sector research institutions (PSRI) have not participated in any major way in the downstream, applied ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Mysterious ‘Dark Dwarfs’ may be hiding at the heart of the Milky Way

Real-world data shows teclistamab can benefit many multiple myeloma patients who would have been ineligible for pivotal trial

Scientists reveal how a key inflammatory molecule triggers esophageal muscle contraction

Duration of heat waves accelerating faster than global warming

New mathematical insights into Lagrangian turbulence

Clinical trials reveal promising alternatives to high-toxicity tuberculosis drug

Artificial solar eclipses in space could shed light on Sun

Probing the cosmic Dark Ages from the far side of the Moon

UK hopes to bolster space weather forecasts with Europe's first solar storm monitor

Can one video change a teen's mindset? New study says yes - but there’s a catch

How lakes connect to groundwater critical for resilience to climate change, research finds

Youngest basaltic lunar meteorite fills nearly one billion-year gap in Moon’s volcanic history

Cal Poly Chemistry professor among three U.S. faculty to be honored for contributions to chemistry instruction

Stoichiometric crystal shows promise in quantum memory

Study sheds light on why some prostate tumors are resistant to treatment

Tree pollen reveals 150,000 years of monsoon history—and a warning for Australia’s northern rainfall

Best skin care ingredients revealed in thorough, national review

MicroRNA is awarded an Impact Factor Ranking for 2024

From COVID to cancer, new at-home test spots disease with startling accuracy

Now accepting submissions: Special Collection on Cognitive Aging

Young adult literature is not as young as it used to be

Can ChatGPT actually “see” red? New results of Google-funded study are nuanced

Turning quantum bottlenecks into breakthroughs

Cancer-fighting herpes virus shown to be an effective treatment for some advanced melanoma

Eliminating invasive rats may restore the flow of nutrients across food chain networks in Seychelles

World’s first: Lithuanian scientists’ discovery may transform OLED technology and explosives detection

Rice researchers develop superstrong, eco-friendly materials from bacteria

Itani studying translation potential of secure & efficient software updates in industrial internet of things architectures

Elucidating the source process of the 2021 south sandwich islands tsunami earthquake

Zhu studying use of big data in verification of route choice models

[Press-News.org] Neural mechanisms linked with vulnerability to anxiety