Neuroscientists have discovered how the brain bidirectionally controls sensitivity to threats to initiate and complete escape behaviour in mice. These findings could help unlock new directions for discovering therapies for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Neuroscientists have discovered how the brain bidirectionally controls sensitivity to threats to initiate and complete escape behaviour in mice. These findings could help unlock new directions for discovering therapies for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder .
"We found that the whole escape network is under direct inhibitory control. When we looked at what happens during escape, we found a group of cells where the activity goes down just before escape. This means that the inhibition is removed so that escape can be initiated. We also found another group of cells where inhibition gradually increases as the animal is escaping and peaks when the animal has reached the shelter.
The next step for the team is to understand how the experience of threat makes the system more or less excitable through the recruitment of these neurons."If we were able to reveal the specific molecular pathway that links experience to the recruitment of these neurons, then it is conceivable that drugs could be developed to target this pathway so that the sensitivity could be dialled up or down in people with anxiety and PTSD," concluded Professor Branco.
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