Researchers find anxiety cells in the brain

 

Researchers Discover 'Anxiety Cells' In The Brain

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January 31, 201812:00 PM ET

 

 

Credit: NPR

 

 

Scientists zeroed in on specific neurons in the brains of mice to gain insights into how anxiety is triggered and suppressed.

SPL/Science Source

 

Scientists have found specialized brain cells in mice that appear to control anxiety levels.

 

The finding, reported Wednesday in the journal Neuron, could eventually lead to better treatments for anxiety disorders, which affect nearly 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.

 

"The therapies we have now have significant drawbacks," says Mazen Kheirbek, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco and an author of the study. "This is another target that we can try to move the field forward for finding new therapies."

 

But the research is at an early stage and lab findings in animals don't always pan out in humans.

 

The discovery of anxiety cells is just the latest example of the "tremendous progress" scientists have made toward understanding how anxiety works in the brain, says Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which helped fund the research.

 

"If we can learn enough, we can develop the tools to turn on and off the key players that regulate anxiety in people," Gordon says.

 

Anxiety disorders involve excessive worry that doesn't go away. These disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social anxiety disorder.

 

Kheirbek and a team including several researchers from Columbia University discovered the cells in the hippocampus, an area of the brain known to be involved in anxiety as well as navigation and memory.

 

They did it by studying some anxious mice, Kheirbek says. "Mice tend to be afraid of open places," he says. So the team put mice in a maze in which some pathways led to open areas. Then the researchers monitored the activity of brain cells at the very bottom of the hippocampus.

 

"And what we found is that these cells became more active whenever the animal went into an area that elicits anxiety," Kheirbek says.

 

This activity didn't prove the cells were causing anxious behavior, though. So the team found a way to control the activity of these cells using a technique called optogenetics.

 

The team set out to answer a simple question, Kheirbek says:

 

    "If we turn down this activity, will the animals become less anxious? And what we found was that they did become less anxious. They actually tended to want to explore the open arms of the maze even more."

 

When the researchers dialed up the cells' activity, the mice got more anxious and didn't want to explore at all.

 

But there's a lot more to anxiety than just these cells in the hippocampus, Kheirbek says. "These cells are probably just one part of an extended circuit by which the animal learns about anxiety-related information."

 

For example, the cells in the hippocampus communicate with another brain area called the hypothalamus that tells mice when to avoid something dangerous. Kheirbek says other parts of the anxiety circuit might detect dangerous odors or sounds.

 

"You can think of this paper as one brick in a big wall," Gordon says. In recent years, he says, scientists have been finding and assembling other bricks at rapid pace.

 

And they need to because anxiety disorders are "incredibly prevalent," Gordon says. "They hit us in the prime working years of life, and our treatments are, at best, partially efficacious."

As long as they don't develop pills for that ...

Yes, exactly, liberty. Don't mess with the hippocampus and hypothalamus! Don't they realize that they all connect? A domino effect if one is tampered with.

Oh I'm sure they will. A pill for everything, right?

Oh I'm sure they will. A pill for everything, right?

 

Yup, prophylactic treatment. Stop the anxiety before it occurs 

An ounce of prevention right? Hell, that's what got me here.........

Why can't they just find good nutritional supplements or foods that will treat this.  I wonder how they turned up or down the rats' anxiety cells?

Makes me wonder who funded this study. It probably takes some decent money to conduct these kinds of tests...

Of course that did, it's called glutamte receptors.

Makes me wonder who funded this study. It probably takes some decent money to conduct these kinds of tests...

I will ring  Hoffmann–La Roche Benzo inventors, and other killer drugs alsohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine  And Pfizer Lyrica and other killer drugs inventors also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer And ask the !@$%*)M/"!>CtS!!!  which one of them it was now 

Hopefully, no one has increased anxiety when thinking about this anxiety study.

 

Don't forget this line near the beginning of the article:

 

"But the research is at an early stage and lab findings in animals don't always pan out in humans."

 

Personally, I'd rather have the little mice dudes and dudettes (Geez, I hope they included dudettes!) lie on very tiny couches and tell me their problems so that they could be spared having the researchers force them to undergo new and improved attempts at messing with parts of their brains.

 

Poor mice. 

Makes me wonder who funded this study. It probably takes some decent money to conduct these kinds of tests...

I will ring  Hoffmann–La Roche Benzo inventors, and other killer drugs alsohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine  And Pfizer Lyrica and other killer drugs inventors also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer And ask the !@$%*)M/"!>CtS!!!  which one of them it was now 

 

Hello Leo! Why are you in the dirt?

Makes me wonder who funded this study. It probably takes some decent money to conduct these kinds of tests...

I will ring  Hoffmann–La Roche Benzo inventors, and other killer drugs alsohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine  And Pfizer Lyrica and other killer drugs inventors also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer And ask the !@$%*)M/"!>CtS!!!  which one of them it was now 

 

Hello Leo! Why are you in the dirt?

Hiya Betsy   

 

Researchers Discover 'Anxiety Cells' In The Brain

3:08

 

    Download

 

    Transcript

 

January 31, 201812:00 PM ET

 

 

Credit: NPR

 

 

Scientists zeroed in on specific neurons in the brains of mice to gain insights into how anxiety is triggered and suppressed.

SPL/Science Source

 

Scientists have found specialized brain cells in mice that appear to control anxiety levels.

 

The finding, reported Wednesday in the journal Neuron, could eventually lead to better treatments for anxiety disorders, which affect nearly 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.

 

"The therapies we have now have significant drawbacks," says Mazen Kheirbek, an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco and an author of the study. "This is another target that we can try to move the field forward for finding new therapies."

 

But the research is at an early stage and lab findings in animals don't always pan out in humans.

 

The discovery of anxiety cells is just the latest example of the "tremendous progress" scientists have made toward understanding how anxiety works in the brain, says Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which helped fund the research.

 

"If we can learn enough, we can develop the tools to turn on and off the key players that regulate anxiety in people," Gordon says.

 

Anxiety disorders involve excessive worry that doesn't go away. These disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social anxiety disorder.

 

Kheirbek and a team including several researchers from Columbia University discovered the cells in the hippocampus, an area of the brain known to be involved in anxiety as well as navigation and memory.

 

They did it by studying some anxious mice, Kheirbek says. "Mice tend to be afraid of open places," he says. So the team put mice in a maze in which some pathways led to open areas. Then the researchers monitored the activity of brain cells at the very bottom of the hippocampus.

 

"And what we found is that these cells became more active whenever the animal went into an area that elicits anxiety," Kheirbek says.

 

This activity didn't prove the cells were causing anxious behavior, though. So the team found a way to control the activity of these cells using a technique called optogenetics.

 

The team set out to answer a simple question, Kheirbek says:

 

    "If we turn down this activity, will the animals become less anxious? And what we found was that they did become less anxious. They actually tended to want to explore the open arms of the maze even more."

 

When the researchers dialed up the cells' activity, the mice got more anxious and didn't want to explore at all.

 

But there's a lot more to anxiety than just these cells in the hippocampus, Kheirbek says. "These cells are probably just one part of an extended circuit by which the animal learns about anxiety-related information."

 

For example, the cells in the hippocampus communicate with another brain area called the hypothalamus that tells mice when to avoid something dangerous. Kheirbek says other parts of the anxiety circuit might detect dangerous odors or sounds.

 

"You can think of this paper as one brick in a big wall," Gordon says. In recent years, he says, scientists have been finding and assembling other bricks at rapid pace.

 

And they need to because anxiety disorders are "incredibly prevalent," Gordon says. "They hit us in the prime working years of life, and our treatments are, at best, partially efficacious."

 

 

Interesting Benzo Girl   Thanks for posting.

 

I had panic attacks since the 1960's, way before anyone had a name for it other than just calling people "wimpy" or worse.  It felt like something in my brain just turned on the Adrenal gland flood gates for no good reason. I remember talking to doctors for 12 years about it until in the early 1980's they had a name for it. 

 

Now they still have to call it PTSD in order to treat it in order to have insurance pay for it.  Panic attacks are NOT covered by insurance! Crazy world we live in, they have to put the proper label on every disorder.  Truth be told when I first started benzo's it felt like a wonder drug.  I have my head screwed on for the first time in my life. It was great not being afraid of becoming afraid and the panic attacks stopped for 5 years, but what goes up must come down. 

Weird thing is I never had panic attacks in w/d, probably bcs it felt like one 2 year long panic attack  

What a learning experience, the horror!  I think I read more info on benzo's at this point than I ever read books in 4 years of college.  Life changing event!

 

I hope your healing well girl

 

Birdy

Hey Nova!

 

Hi birdy.

 

I was always hyper even as a kid. Never napped always a bit too much. I do wonder if this was part of my genes. Mom has always been anxious. Too bad we need to be labeled. Panic attacks suck and should be covered by insurance but they will do anything not to pay. I think it will only get worse in the months to come.

Bets, I was always a tomboy when I was a kid and very athletic and mentally healthy with no behavorial problems or anything.  Never broke a bone or had a stitch; always quite agile.  Also, I was sensitive to harsh people who weren't too nice and would get nervous and depressed.  My first grade teacher wasn't too nice and I was sad and quiet in first grade and afraid to participate.  I never had anxiety though as a kid and slept well and was happy but had insecurity problems.  Drugs have destroyed my nervous system now.  It's such a shame.  I wonder if being of Polish descent has anything to do with it?  My father was Polish and was diagnosed with anxiety.  It might be in our genes?  There are a few Poles on this forum I see.     

Becky

 

I don't think poles are the only ones who get anxious..

Agreed! Benzodiazepines are taken by people around the world. I'm sure there are a few countries where they're not taken, but you can bet that anxiety is felt by all people of all nationalities. And people use various chemical ways to deal with it, including benzos, cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and other substances.

 

People have looked for ways to deal with anxiety throughout history (e.g. Check the history of alcohol use!). Clearly, the hunt continues.

Booze has been around since the beginning of time.

I know! A few thousand years! Well, without refrigeration, I"m sure stuff got fermented all the time.

Personally, I'd rather have the little mice dudes and dudettes (Geez, I hope they included dudettes!) lie on very tiny couches and tell me their problems so that they could be spared having the researchers force them to undergo new and improved attempts at messing with parts of their brains.

 

Yeah, those mice and micelettes would probably have gotten a lot more out of talking, lapis. 

I was just wondering if Poles might have some type of genetic issue where they get anxiety more than others? 

We could get into the "nature vs. nurture" discussion here, but it would likely not end up with any clear conclusions.

 

By the way, I know a lovely Polish woman who is among the strongest women I've ever met. I admire her so much.

 

No group of people holds special status when it comes to anxiety. I'm sure it's spread liberally across the human race. On reflection, I think that those living in war-torn countries must deal with a type of anxiety that many of us have -- thankfully -- never known. Anxiety is totally appropriate there.