Scientists have identified a brain circuit that can reduce anxiety when activated without impairing memory, according to Sci Tech Daily.
Researchers have identified a specific brain circuit that, when inhibited, can reduce anxiety without causing significant side effects - Photo: Sci Tech Daily
Using light-sensitive drugs, they identified a promising neural pathway that could lead to safer and more effective treatments for anxiety.
Brain circuit research targets anxiety
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have identified a specific brain circuit that, when inhibited, can reduce anxiety without causing significant side effects, at least in preclinical models.
These findings open up a potential new target for treating anxiety disorders, and introduce a broader strategy for studying the effects of drugs on the brain using a technique called "photopharmacology."
The study, published in the scientific journal Neuron , looked at how experimental drug compounds interact with a brain cell receptor called mGluR2 (metabotropic glutamate receptor 2).
Although mGluR2 receptors are present in many different brain circuits, the researchers found that activating them in a specific pathway leading to the amygdala — a brain region involved in emotional processing — can significantly reduce anxiety-related behaviors without causing harmful side effects.
This is a promising advance, as many current anxiety treatments can cause cognitive impairment and other unwanted consequences.
A new direction in drug development
“Our findings reveal an important new target for treating anxiety disorders and demonstrate that optopharmacology-based approaches have potential for analyzing precisely how drugs work in the brain,” said Joshua Levitz, PhD, senior author of the study and associate professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine.
In this new study, Dr. Levitz's team went further in understanding how mGluR2 activators work in the brain by using a new set of tools to map the drug's effects on specific brain circuits.
“One of the next steps will be to find ways to target circuits selectively. In other words, not through mGluR2, because mGluR2 is ubiquitous in the brain,” said Dr. Levitz.
He and colleagues are using their new brain circuit mapping toolkit to study other classes of drugs, including opioids and antidepressants.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tim-ra-cong-tac-an-cua-nao-bo-giup-tat-con-lo-au-20250204202154201.htm
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