Post by Admin on May 15, 2022 17:18:48 GMT
A mind without fear: Could this potential drug treat PTSD and anxiety?
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/a-mind-without-fear-could-this-potential-drug-treat-ptsd-and-anxiety
Traumatic experiences can result in long lasting fearful memories.
Researchers have shown that a specific drug can suppress fearful memories in a mouse model in a previous study.
In a new study, the researchers have identified the mechanism of this drug.
In a new study, researchers have identified the mechanism of a drug that they previously found could inhibit fearful memories in mice.
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, opens the door to developing a drug that may have the same effect on humans.
Traumatic memories
If a person experiences a traumatic event, they may have long lasting fearful memories of the event that reduce their quality of life.
The Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrusted Source say that traumatic events “are marked by a sense of horror, helplessness, serious injury, or the threat of serious injury or death.”
According to the National Institute of Mental HealthTrusted Source, many people will recover from the effects of a traumatic event as time passes. However, if a person does not recover, they may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A person with PTSD may be offered talking therapy or medications to help them recover.
Medical News Today spoke with Dr. Carmen Pedraza, Professor of Psychobiology at the University of Malaga, Spain. Dr. Pedraza was not involved in the study.
“Fear is a normal emotional reaction, vital for survival. When a ‘dangerous’ stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, a conditioned fear response can be generated, the extinction of which — when the stimulus that triggered the fear response is not present — is essential for emotional regulation,” according to Dr. Pedraza.
She says that the development of phobias, panic disorders, and PTSD has been linked to failure to properly regulate fear responses, and “fear extinction” is the focus of therapeutic interventions used in treating these disorders.
“The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex are two key structures in the brain circuitry involved in emotional regulation. Results from human and animal studies suggest that disruption of this circuit is important for the development of fear extinction disorders and predicts individual differences in emotion regulation,” Dr. Pedraza explained. “Drugs that modulate this circuit may be a good therapeutic strategy for the treatment of these disorders.”
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/a-mind-without-fear-could-this-potential-drug-treat-ptsd-and-anxiety
Traumatic experiences can result in long lasting fearful memories.
Researchers have shown that a specific drug can suppress fearful memories in a mouse model in a previous study.
In a new study, the researchers have identified the mechanism of this drug.
In a new study, researchers have identified the mechanism of a drug that they previously found could inhibit fearful memories in mice.
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, opens the door to developing a drug that may have the same effect on humans.
Traumatic memories
If a person experiences a traumatic event, they may have long lasting fearful memories of the event that reduce their quality of life.
The Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrusted Source say that traumatic events “are marked by a sense of horror, helplessness, serious injury, or the threat of serious injury or death.”
According to the National Institute of Mental HealthTrusted Source, many people will recover from the effects of a traumatic event as time passes. However, if a person does not recover, they may have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A person with PTSD may be offered talking therapy or medications to help them recover.
Medical News Today spoke with Dr. Carmen Pedraza, Professor of Psychobiology at the University of Malaga, Spain. Dr. Pedraza was not involved in the study.
“Fear is a normal emotional reaction, vital for survival. When a ‘dangerous’ stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus, a conditioned fear response can be generated, the extinction of which — when the stimulus that triggered the fear response is not present — is essential for emotional regulation,” according to Dr. Pedraza.
She says that the development of phobias, panic disorders, and PTSD has been linked to failure to properly regulate fear responses, and “fear extinction” is the focus of therapeutic interventions used in treating these disorders.
“The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex are two key structures in the brain circuitry involved in emotional regulation. Results from human and animal studies suggest that disruption of this circuit is important for the development of fear extinction disorders and predicts individual differences in emotion regulation,” Dr. Pedraza explained. “Drugs that modulate this circuit may be a good therapeutic strategy for the treatment of these disorders.”