- Reaction score
- 1,694
A gene in the brain driving anxiety symptoms has been identified by an international team of scientists. Critically, modification of the gene is shown to reduce anxiety levels, offering an exciting novel drug target for anxiety disorders. The discovery, led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Exeter, is published online today [25 April] in Nature Communications.
Anxiety disorders are common with 1 in 4 people diagnosed with a disorder at least once in their lifetime. Severe psychological trauma can trigger genetic, biochemical and morphological changes in neurons in the brain’s amygdala — the brain region implicated in stress-induced anxiety, leading to the onset of anxiety disorders, including panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, the efficacy of currently available anti-anxiety drugs is low with more than half of patients not achieving remission following treatment. Limited success in developing potent anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) drugs is a result of our poor understanding of the neural circuits underlying anxiety and molecular events resulting in stress-related neuropsychiatric states.
In this study, scientists sought to identify the molecular events in the brain that underpin anxiety. They focused on a group of molecules, known as miRNAs in animal models. This important group of molecules, also found in the human brain, regulates multiple target proteins controlling the cellular processes in the amygdala.
www.bristol.ac.uk
Anxiety disorders are common with 1 in 4 people diagnosed with a disorder at least once in their lifetime. Severe psychological trauma can trigger genetic, biochemical and morphological changes in neurons in the brain’s amygdala — the brain region implicated in stress-induced anxiety, leading to the onset of anxiety disorders, including panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, the efficacy of currently available anti-anxiety drugs is low with more than half of patients not achieving remission following treatment. Limited success in developing potent anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) drugs is a result of our poor understanding of the neural circuits underlying anxiety and molecular events resulting in stress-related neuropsychiatric states.
In this study, scientists sought to identify the molecular events in the brain that underpin anxiety. They focused on a group of molecules, known as miRNAs in animal models. This important group of molecules, also found in the human brain, regulates multiple target proteins controlling the cellular processes in the amygdala.
April: gene-brainstudy | News and features | University of Bristol
www.bristol.ac.uk
