Infant children whose mothers experienced neglect when they were young showed altered brain circuitry in areas associated with anxiety and fear response.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Cats May Help Increase Empathy and Decrease Anxiety for Kids With Autism
Cats may help increase empathy while reducing symptoms of separation anxiety in children with autism, a new study reports.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Maternal Anxiety Affects the Fetal Brain
Stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnant women is associated with social and behavioral problems in their offspring. Neuroimaging reveals fetuses whose mothers were anxious had weaker connectivity between brain areas associated with executive and co…
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Common Neural Circuit and Potential Target for Anxiety and OCD
Glutamatergic neural connections between the prelimbic prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens appear to be responsible for co-morbid anxiety and OCD behaviors.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Anxiety Associated With Faster Alzheimer’s Disease Onset
Anxiety may accelerate the progression of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease. Brain scans revealed patients who progressed from MCI to Alzheimer’s disease had decreased volume in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Brain Cells That Help Drive Bodily Reaction to Fear and Anxiety Identified
Pnoc neurons in the BNST trigger pupillary response and increase heart rate in response to anxiety and fear.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Chronic Alcohol Use Reshapes the Brain’s Immune Landscape, Driving Anxiety and Addiction
Study identifies inflammatory mechanisms and cellular activity in the amygdala that drives alcohol addiction in mice. Chronic alcohol exposure compromises immune cells in the brain, driving anxiety and alcohol consumption that may lead to the developme…
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Single Brain Region Links Depression and Anxiety, Heart Disease, and Treatment Sensitivity
Overactivity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex underlies several key symptoms of depression, anxiety, and heart disease.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: PTSD and Alcohol Abuse Go Hand-in-Hand, but Males and Females Exhibit Symptoms Differently
Male and female rodents exhibit distinct symptoms and brain features of both PTSD and alcohol use disorder. Following trauma, males show increased GABA receptor function, while females showed increased GABA release.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Fear and Anxiety Share Same Bases in Brain
Fear and anxiety share overlapping neural circuits. The findings contradict the popular belief that anxiety and fear are distinct emotions with different triggers and segregated brain circuits.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: The Effects of Oxytocin on Social Anxiety Depend on Location
Oxytocin produced in the BNST increased stress-induced social anxiety behaviors in mice. The findings shed light on why oxytocin can sometimes provoke anti-social effects.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Nurture Trumps Nature in Determining Severity of PTSD Symptoms
The ability to foster and form secure interpersonal attachments can mitigate some of the genetic risks associated with PTSD.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: COVID-19 Spurs Anxious and Upsetting Dreams
New studies reveal COVID-19 is having a negative impact on sleep, spurring dreams that cause anxiety and emotional upset. Women appear to experience more disturbing dreams than men.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Anxious, Moody Older Adults Are Vulnerable to Worse Cognitive Function
Older people who have higher levels of neuroticism are more likely to have worse cognitive function than those with other personality traits. Researchers say personality traits may be related to how well people can maintain their cognitive function, de…
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: ‘Awe Walks’ Boost Emotional Well-Being
Older adults who took brief, weekly “awe walks” for eight weeks reported improvements in positive emotions and a decrease in daily life stress.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: The Overlap Between Fear and Anxiety Brain Circuits
Study provides contrary evidence to existing theory, finding anxiety and fear reflect overlapping neural circuits.
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: How Psychedelics Bind to Key Serotonin Receptor
Researchers have uncovered the structure of psychedelic compounds when they actively bind to the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor on the surface of brain cells. The discovery could lead to the exploration of more precise compounds that offer the therapeutic e…
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Depression, Not Anxiety, Linked With Inflammation and Metabolic Change
Depression and anxiety have different biochemical links to inflammation and lipid metabolism. Those with depression have greater levels of inflammation and different types and amounts of lipids in their blood compared to those with anxiety. The metabol…
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Smartphones Can Predict Brain Function Associated With Anxiety and Depression
Data collected from smartphones can accurately predict connectivity between brain regions associated with emotional processing. Analyzing cellphone data, such as social activity, screen time, and location, alongside fMRI brain scans, researchers found …
Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: People Who Were Children When Their Parents Divorced Have Less Oxytocin
Levels of oxytocin were substantially lower in adults who experienced parental divorce as children compared to those whose families remained together.
