Anxiety tagged posts

Radiation exposure impairs learning and memory, causes anxiety. Exposure to chronic, low dose radiation – the conditions present in deep space – causes neural and behavioral impairments in mice, researchers report in eNeuro. These results highlight the pressing need to develop safety measures to protect the brain from radiation during deep space missions as astronauts prepare to travel to Mars.

Radiation is known to disrupt signaling among other processes in the brain. However, previous experiments used short-term, higher dose-rate exposures of radiation, which does not accurately reflect the conditions in space.

To investigate how d...

Using the ‘elevated plus maze’ test with mice, researchers have shown that Matcha green tea can reduce anxiety. Their experiments revealed that Matcha’s anxiolytic effects are due to the activation of dopamine D1 receptors and certain serotonin receptors. The researchers suggest that adding a little Matcha tea to your diet may improve your health.

Many different countries have a tea culture, and Japanese Matcha tea is growing in popularity around the world. In Japan, Matcha has a long history of being used for various medicinal purposes...

People suffering from a fear of heights experience the anxiety also in virtual reality – even though they are aware that they are not really in a dangerous situation. Credit: VTPlus

It is possible to unlearn fears. And this works even better when a specific region of the brain has previously been stimulated magnetically. This has been shown by researchers from the Würzburg University Hospital in a new study. Nearly 1 in 7 Germans suffer from an anxiety disorder. Some panic upon boarding an aircraft, others find it impossible to enter a room with a spider on the wall and again others prefer the staircase over the elevator – even to get to the tenth floor – because riding in elevators elevates their heart rate.

What sounds like funny anecdotes is often debilitating for the sufferers...

Two neurons of the basolateral amygdala. MIT neuroscientists have found that these neurons play a key role in separating information about positive and negative experiences. Credit: Anna Beyeler and Praneeth Namburi

A new study reveals how 2 populations of neurons contribute to the brain’s inability to correctly assign emotional associations to events, eg those who are depressed often do not feel happy even when experiencing something that they normally enjoy. Learning how this information is routed and misrouted could shed light on mental illnesses including depression, addiction, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

In a previous study, Tye’s lab identified 2 populations of neurons involved in processing positive and negative emotions...