Anxiety

…neural circuits implicated in anxiety and depression. The session examines stress-related disruption of neuroimmune communication, including inflammation and increased monocyte abundance. It connects these mechanisms with translational efforts to develop targeted interventions for major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

…risk for major depression and anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, not all individuals exposed to strong stressful events develop psychopathology, with the mechanisms of resilience

Psychedelics like psilocybin have shown rapid and long-lasting efficacy on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Other psychedelics with shorter half-lives, such as DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, have also shown promising preliminary outcomes in major depression, making them interesting candidates for clinical practice. Despite several promising clinical studies, the influence of the context on therapeutic responses or adverse effects remains poorly documented. To address this, we conducted preclinical studies evaluating the psychopharmacological profile of 5-MeO-DMT in contexts previously validated in mice as

…mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and aggression. Chronic stress or traumatic experiences are thought to trigger the development of depression. However, only a subset of individuals experiencing chronic stress or traumatic life events develop depressive-like behavior (susceptible), while others remain resilient. In order to investigate multiple aspects of dep

Depression is a common affective disorder that represents a heavy burden on communities. Psychobiotics, the emerging group of probiotics and postbiotics that affect brain function and mental health have shown promising results in alleviating symptoms of depression. Postbiotics, bioactive compounds released by/or produced through the metabolic activity of the microbiota, provide various beneficial effects for the host, including antidepressive ones. This study aimed to evaluate antidepressive potential of postbiotic obtained from GABA-producing B. adolescentis NGB329. We tested whether this pos

…Anxiety levels have been linked to the severity of FoG, yet in this circumstance, levodopa treatment lacks effectiveness. A better understanding of the neural circuit mechanisms underlying FoG is required for a more targeted approach towards its treatment. To this end, we developed a viral vector (AAV2/9-CreON-A53T-αSyn) mouse model restricting synucleinopathy to local circuit elements, i.e. selected neuron subtypes within specific brain regions in vivo. We validated t

…like adaptive behavior, memory, and anxiety, but first there need to be reliable paradigms. Recently, attention has been directed toward establishing such paradigms in birds. We administered two tasks assessing neophilia and neophobia in pigeons to measure both behaviors in the s

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is considered rare in hallucinogen users although there are conflicting reports about its incidence and prevalence. HPPD may be more common in those with trait neuroticism. In this study, we invited hallucinogen and other drug users to complete an online questionnaire about their use of hallucinogens, their experience of HPPD symptoms, and their trait neuroticism and mental health symptoms. We received 802 responses with 415 of these containing adequate data for further analysis. 39.7% of responders reported symptoms corresponding to Type I HP

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a prevalent, persistent and severe psychiatric condition characterized by persistent feelings of depression, anhedonia, and occasional suicidal thoughts, with stress identified as a major trigger. Previous research from our lab has shown changes in mouse emotional and cognitive behavior, and cellular and molecular alterations in some brain areas such as hippocampus, striatum and prefrontal cortex. Nevertheless, the mechanism underlying depression remain elusive, and so, an effective treatment. To tackle this issue, cannabidiol (CBD) treatment has emerged as a

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is expressed in the brain and impacts physiological several activities. Dysregulation of the RAS may be associated with a wide spectrum of brain diseases defined by severe neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and age-related pathophysiological processes. The CAG-hACE2 transgenic mice were designed to express the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor, which is involved in the RAS. However, the relevance of ACE2 at the brain level remains unclear. The purpose of our research is to characterize CAG-hACE2 transgenic mice of both sexes, females an

Leucine rich repeat transmembrane proteins (LRRMTs) are synaptic adhesion proteins able to influence synapse development and function. LRRTM4, one of the 4 members of this protein group, is able to induce presynaptic differentiation and plays a significant role in excitatory synapse development. LRRTM4 polymorphisms have been linked to multiple neuropsychiatric diseases, but the underlying mechanisms are currently unclear. Therefore, we aimed to better understand the role of this gene for brain function by combining a battery of behavioural assays with transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis u

…binge-sucrose intake, affecting both anxiety levels and memory performance, with inconsistent results.

Anxiety is an emotional state that orients cognition towards potential future threat. Despite serving a useful function, this can be unpleasant and pathological when experienced chronically, or in inappropriate situations. Simple strategies for emotion regulation, such as self-distancing and attention-focusing can reduce perceived negative emotion, but the neural mechanisms are unclear. This study aims to investigate brain responses underlying the efficacy of these interventions, by combining self-reported anxiety measures and fMRI data.Prior to scanning, personalised, anxiety-provoking scenar

…many become more prone to develop anxiety or depression, some appear resilient. The mechanisms underlying these differences are unknown. Key answers may lie in how genetic and environmental stressors interact to shape the circuits controlling emotions. Here we studied the role of the habenulo-interpeducuncular system (HIPS), a critical node of reward circuits, in early stress-induced anxiety. We found that a subcircuit of this system, characterized by Otx2 ex

Background:Diet-induced inflammation, particularly from high-fat (HF) diet, is widely recognized as a contributing factor to neurological impairments and neurodegenerative disorders. Melanotan-II (MT-II), which targets and activates melanotropin receptors, may exert neuromodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects. Yet, the role of melanotropins in countering the diet-induced effects remain largely unexplored.Objective:The study investigates the possible relationship among diet, Melanotan-II (MT-II), a melanotropin receptor analog, and the behavior of zebrafish (Danio rerio).Methods:Zebrafish wer

Chronic pain is a major public health issue, often accompanied by comorbidities such as anxiety and depression. Thanks to the work of our team, we now know that the development of these disorders are linked to a dysregulation of the excitatory/inhibitory (EI) balance in cortical structures, such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA). An essential actor for the EI balance are the fast-spiking interneurons expressing parvalbumin (INPV). These neurons are surrounded by a specialized extracellular matrix, the perineuronal nets (PNNs) which regulate their functions a

…depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperac

Nutrient composition in obesogenic diets may influence the severity of disorders associated with obesity such as insulin-resistance and chronic inflammation. Here we hypothesized that obesogenic diets rich in fat and varying in fatty acid composition, particularly in omega 6 (ω6) to omega 3 (ω3) ratio, have various effects on energy metabolism, neuroinflammation and behavior. Mice were fed either a control diet or a high fat diet (HFD) containing either low (LO), medium (ME) or high (HI) ω6/ω3 ratio. Mice from the HFD-LO group consumed less calories and exhibited less body weight gain compared

…to the development of fear and anxiety. We aim to determine if observed responses indicate a general novelty marker, are solely linked to arousal, and are influenced by valence. Adopting the transdiagnostic RDoC approach, this study focuses on acute and sustained threat within negative valence systems.Aims: Utilizing a modified Threat Conditioning and Extinction Task (TCET), we examined fear memory traces in healthy over three phases (preconditioning, conditioning, extinction). The study involved subjective ratings of faces associ

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a great challenge for psychiatry with up to 40% of treatment-resistant patients. Therefore, non-pharmacological interventions such as different diets seem a promising tool. Ketogenic diet (KD) is a powerful tool for epilepsy and metabolic diseases while new clinical and animal studies show also its potential against mental disorders such as MDD, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. Several neurobiological pathways have been suggested to mediate effect of KD for the brain and mental health with neurotrophic and neuroplasticity factor BDNF among them. Therefore

…and social behaviors but signs of anxiety and elevated reactive aggression. We checked the c-fos expression in aggression-related brain regions following the resident-intrud

…is specifically sensitive to anxiety stimuli and states. Similar behavioral patterns relating anxiety and gait interruption can be found in defensive freezing of rodents where a disinhibitory mechanism within the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) generates gait disruption and subsequent immobility due to threat.Classical rodent behavioral paradigms binarize anxiety states based on clear separation of anxiogen

…factors, including depression, anxiety, and stress, and insomnia among older adults with MCI. 145 Greek older adults were recruited from an outpatient memory clinic in Athens. The sample m

Pioneering research on brain-body interactions has revealed the existence of functional coupling between the rhythmic activity of the stomach and brain. While major breakthroughs support a pivotal role of the gut in psychopathology, the mental health implications of this recently discovered stomach-brain axis are unknown. We hypothesised that stomach-brain coupling in transdiagnostic cortical networks would index individual differences in mental health, in particular with anxiogenic factors. We estimated stomach-brain coupling by combining functional brain imaging with electrogastrography in t