Posted on 09/10/2018 9:18:54 AM PDT by ETL
The team,...,found that brain cells known as oriens-lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) interneurons, when stimulated, produce a brain rhythm that is present when animals feel safe in a threatening environment.
The researchers also showed that anxiety and risk-taking behavior can be controlled by the manipulation of OLM cells.
“To find a pathway that quickly and robustly modulates risk-taking behavior is very important for treatment of pathological anxiety since reduced risk-taking behavior is a trait in people with high anxiety levels,” they said.
“Adaptive (or normal) anxiety is essential for survival because it protects us from harm. Unfortunately, in a large number of people, anxiety can be dysfunctional and severely interfere with daily life.”
“In these cases, doctors often rely on antidepressants to help patients recover from the dysfunctional state. However, these drugs act in the entire brain and not only in the areas where it is needed and may therefore have severe side-effects.”
“Thus, to act in a single brain region and in a very specific group of cells to control anxiety may be a major breakthrough in treating anxiety and associated disorders like depression.”
Another interesting finding in the study is that OLM cells can also be controlled by pharmacological agents.
-snip-
“It is fascinating how different regions of the same brain structure control distinct behaviors and how they interact with each other,” Dr. Mikulovic said.
“Identifying specific circuits that underlie either cognitive or emotional processes is crucial for the general understanding of brain function and for more specific drug development to treat disorders.”
“The discovery of these neurons and their role in anxiety and risk-taking may open a path for the development of highly efficient anxiolytics and antidepressants without common side-effects, such as apathy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...
I thought they might be there, but I was afraid to look.
I thought they might be there, but I was afraid to look.
Wow, that sucker didn’t look so big when it was lying down. Lion is lucky. Do have a hippos go wild website?
Does the consumption of alcohol stimulate OLM cells?
Cocaine?
Meth?
Other drugs?
Oh great.
Here comes a Fear Ray.
Well, part of the secret’s in the amygdala: overactive amygdala - anxiety, paranoia; underactive - apathy, depression. It’s all connected somehow, some day it may all be clear.....
Ditto to the John Wayne quote.
The article is ridiculous. If you felt safe, you wouldn’t need courage.
I stand with John Wayne’s definition. SADDLE UP!!!
bookmark
Can we buy a few on EBay and get them injected into some of the senate and house leadership’s hippopotamuses??
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